One of the revelations that actress and beauty queen Kylie Verzosa shared on her first ever YouTube vlog is her battle with depression in the past.

Answering some questions coming from fans and followers, Verzosa explained why mental health is her chosen advocacy, as per her debut vlog episode last Feb. 4.

“Why mental health? Kasi pinagdaanan ko din ‘yun. I went through depression five years ago and I felt like I overcame something so big na I wanted it to be spoken about and I always wondered bakit hindi ito napapag-uusapan?” she said.

(It’s because I also went through it. I went through depression five years ago and I felt like I overcame something so big that I wanted it to be spoken about and I always wondered why [mental health] is not being discussed.)

Verzosa wondered then why her friends were not talking about the issue. She was also concerned about the lack of available resources online.

“When I wanted to join Binibini, I wanted to talk about mental health dahil OK lang na pag-usapan ‘yung mga napagdaanan natin sa buhay o ‘yung mga failures natin as long as we come out better or not even as long as, even though we’re still going through it, ‘yung sinisikapan natin para maging mabuting tao,” she added.

(When I wanted to join Bb. Pilipinas, I wanted to talk about mental health because it’s OK that we talk about what we have gone through in life, or our failures as long as we come out better, or not even as long as, even though we’re still going through it, what we’re striving [to overcome] to be good people.)

“Gusto ko malaman ng tao na importante din siya para sa overall health natin,” she stressed.

(I want people to know that [mental health] is important in our overall health.)

Among other fan questions answered by Verzosa were whether she would consider living away from the Philippines (she answered “no” because she considers the Philippines home), and if she had been cheated upon (to which she answered, “Actually oo, nakita ko ang picture.” [Actually yes, I saw the picture.])

kylie verzosa youtube depression — Image: YouTube/Kylie Verzosa

Verzosa won the Miss International crown in 2016, making her the sixth Filipina to win the prestigious beauty title after Gemma Cruz, Aurora Pijuan, Melanie Marquez, Precious Lara Quigaman and Bea Rose Santiago. JB

Jake Cuenca assures Kylie Verzosa on her birthday today: ‘You have my loyalty’