75 suicide-attempt referrals recorded from January to August; crisis hotline gets nearly 300 calls in two months
DAVAO CITY (October 1) — SEVENTY-FIVE people were referred to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) after suicide attempts in the first eight months of 2026, as the hospital also fielded nearly 300 crisis calls in just two months through its newly established mental health hotline.
The figures are raising concern over the growing number of young people reaching a point of crisis, with mental health specialists urging parents, teachers and communities to recognize warning signs and intervene earlier.
Dr. Jaseray Louie Catabigan, resident-in-training at the SPMC Institute for Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, said the hospital recorded an average of eight to 10 suicide-attempt referrals each month from January to August.
The attempts involved different methods, including substance ingestion and hanging.
Catabigan disclosed the figures during the Healthy Davao Media Forum at the SM City Davao Annex, where she stressed that suicide prevention cannot be left to hospitals and mental health professionals alone.
“Suicide prevention is everyone’s concern, not solely the domain of mental health professionals,” she said.
Children are among those seeking help
SPMC’s crisis response has also begun handling calls involving young patients, including children as young as 12 years old, underscoring the need for adults to take changes in a child’s behavior seriously.
Catabigan urged parents and teachers to watch for signs such as withdrawal, loss of interest in activities, giving away possessions, unusual recklessness and repeatedly missing school or other activities.
She said adults should establish trust with children before a crisis happens rather than wait until a child is already at risk of harming themselves.
“We need to watch out for warning signs … before we just hear news of an attempt in school or at home,” she said.
Catabigan also warned against dismissing children’s emotional struggles as mere drama or something they should simply outgrow.
Statements such as, “You’re being dramatic; we didn’t have mental health issues when we were kids,” can discourage children from seeking help, she said.
“It’s a wake-up call for all of us to talk to our children, get to know them, and connect,” Catabigan said.
Nearly 300 hotline calls
SPMC launched its dedicated Crisis Hotline Unit in July to provide an immediate point of contact for people experiencing emotional or psychological distress.
The hotline operates daily, including holidays.
In its first two months, the unit received about 297 calls, with around 100 cases referred or escalated to the hospital’s Psychiatric Emergency Unit (PEU).
The PEU operates 24 hours a day and receives callers considered at high risk, including those who are actively suicidal or at risk of harming themselves.
Hotline responders are trained to use de-escalation, grounding and breathing techniques while determining whether callers need emergency psychiatric intervention.
For families and schools, however, Catabigan said the more important intervention may happen long before a child reaches a hotline or emergency room.
She said directly asking a child about suicide or self-harm does not plant the idea. Instead, a calm conversation can help adults identify danger and connect the child with support.
She also cautioned against blaming video games as a direct or defining cause of real-world aggression, saying current psychiatric and social science research does not establish such a link.
Depression and other mental health conditions, she added, are treatable medical conditions.
With 75 suicide-attempt referrals already recorded by August and nearly 300 crisis calls since July, the numbers point to a challenge that extends beyond hospital care: getting families, schools and communities to recognize distress early enough to act before a child reaches the emergency room.
