Kylie Verzosa overcame clinical depression through psychotherapy, yoga

Kylie Verzosa. Image: screengrab from YouTube/Toni Gonzaga Studio

Kylie Verzosa spoke about her journey of healing from depression and how she was able to do it through psychotherapy, as well as yoga and meditation.

The beauty queen, diagnosed as clinically depressed when she was 21, recounted trying a “holistic way” of treating her condition, in an exclusive interview with actress-TV host Toni Gonzaga on her YouTube channel yesterday, March 7.

“May mentor ako na nag-open sa ‘kin na sabi niya, ‘Kylie, you can treat it in a more holistic way,’ so chinallenge ko ‘yung sarili ko. Sabi ko, ‘If my dad’s doing it in a medical way baka kaya ko in a more holistic approach,'” she said. “The best way of treating depression is psychotherapy, ‘yung pinapag-usapan mo, either medicine or combination of both — ‘yung medicine, psychotherapy and ‘yung holistic way of healing.”

(I had a mentor who told me, “Kylie, you can treat it in a more holistic way,” so I challenged myself. I said, “If my dad’s doing it in a medical way, maybe I can do it in a more holistic approach.” The best way of treating depression is psychotherapy which is where you talk about it, either medicine or combination of both — medicine, psychotherapy and holistic way of healing.)

Vezosa’s father, Ari, is a known mental health advocate.

The beauty queen then pointed out the importance of directing oneself towards healing, stressing how it takes “supreme effort” to do such. She also gave an account of the things that she did to overcome the sadness that she felt back then.

“You really have to will yourself to get better. As in kailangang gustong-gusto mo na maging mabuti kasi ako (You should really want to get better because in my case) that’s what I really wanted,” she stated. “In the end, ikaw lang talaga ‘yung makakabangon sa sarili mo (you’re the only one who can save yourself).”

“‘Yung lahat ng ginawa ko during that time — ‘yung reading books, ‘yung hineal ko muna ‘yung sarili ko bago ako lumabas sa mundo, isolating myself from the people who are bad for me, staying with my family and praying,” she added.

(What I did during that time was I read books, I made sure that I healed myself first before facing the world again, I isolated myself from the people who are bad for me, I stayed with my family and prayed.)

Verzosa also credited her experience as what inspired her to create Mental Health Matters, a non-profit organization which aims to raise awareness and provide a support system to those experiencing what she went through.

Verzosa was crowned as Miss International 2016, making her the sixth Filipina to win the title after Gemma Cruz, Aurora Pijuan, Melanie Marquez, Precious Lara Quigaman and Bea Rose Santiago. JB

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