Maxene Magalona was invited by Toni Gonzaga, as a guest for the segment of Toni Talks Mental Health Awareness last month, October 24 where she openly discussed her complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and shared her healing journey.
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At the age of 21, Magalona admitted that she started to live an unhealthy lifestyle. She went through a dark phase after her dad, Francis Magalona, the greatest Filipino rapper of all time, died because of acute myelogenous leukemia on March 6, 2009.
Magalona disclosed that she keeps on partying all day and night and drinking alcohol for almost 5 years, trying to avoid the fact that her father and best friend passed away.
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“I was running away from all the uncomfortable feelings – the feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. Kung baga parang hindi ko siya matanggap, I was pushing it aside. And then I thought the partying was helping because it was making me happy,” she explained.
But because of awakening times in her life, Magalona realized that she was lost, miserable and irresponsible. One of her rock-bottom moments is when she got married to Rob Mananquil.
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“I was projecting negative emotions towards my husband. I was becoming abusive with my words and I didn’t know that it was already psychological and emotional abuse,” she said.
Moreover, the actress also punches walls and kicks doors to reduce her overflowing stress and madness.
From that point, Mananquil encouraged his wife to undergo therapy sessions. Thus, the psych doctor said that Magalona has a mental health condition, known as complex post-traumatic stress disorder or CPTSD starts from childhood and it grows from within – possibly caused by trauma, bullying, and emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse.
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Magalona was very thankful that she found out about her mental condition saying, “Wow sobrang thankful noong nalaman ko because now I can do my research and mas lalo kong nakilala sarili ko, mas naging aware ako, mas naging mindful ako, mas naging compassionate.”
Instead of taking pills and medicine for her mental health problem, she preferred to heal in a natural way.
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She went to Bali, Indonesia for a year with the intention of healing and surrendering her anxiety, stress, and mental health. Whereas, she met Anna Fries, a Filipina-German who inspired her that healing is not a bad thing.
Then quoted the statement of Fries that “Healing is actually remembering who you really are and taking away the layers, shadows, distractions, and veil of ignorance.”
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The actress finds her soul through yoga and meditation, which has now become part of Magalona’s daily activities. She above all gains relaxation, energy, peace of mind and connection with God.
Magalona is now an active mental health advocate. She believed that her journey was meant to help other people. And she uses social media platforms, particularly Instagram, to tell her story.
And leave with the saying, “We should speak about it (mental health), we need to take care of what’s happening underneath the surface – mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.”
The Toni Talks Youtube channel hopes that Magalona’s journey brings encouragement and inspiration to any individual to continue striving and be more active in taking care of one’s mental health, especially in this time of pandemic.
Watch Maxene Magalona Opens Up About Her Mental Health Condition on Toni Talks here:
