Abstract. The mental health of Filipino college students is a growing concern due to the challenges posed by academic pressures, social isolation, and emotional distress. Counseling interventions are crucial in addressing these challenges by equipping students with strategies that build resilience and personal agency. However, many students remain hesitant to seek professional help despite its availability due to the self-stigma associated with mental health support. This study addressed a crucial gap in the literature by exploring how stigma predicts mental health outcomes in the Filipino context, offering valuable insights for improving student well-being and academic success. The pervasiveness of mental health concerns among college students and understanding barriers to seeking professional help also present a timely context. This study used a quantitative, predictive correlational design to examine the relationship between self-stigma and mental well-being. G*Power was used to compute the sample size, and a purposive sampling technique was utilized to recruit college students (n=300) across higher education institutions in Pampanga, Philippines. The data was collected through standardized instruments, including the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. The findings revealed a weak and significant negative correlation (R=-0.17, p. <0.001) between self-stigma and mental well-being, indicating that higher levels of self-stigma are associated with lower levels of mental well-being. Moreover, the data revealed that 2.9% of self-stigma can predict mental well-being among college students. These findings highlighted that as college students experience higher self-stigma around seeking help, mental well-being tends to decrease, making the students less likely to seek psychological support and more vulnerable to mental health challenges. Higher educational institutions are encouraged to create an environment that fosters open discussions on mental health, making it more accepted and normalized. School counselors are encouraged to implement stigma-reduction programs to help students feel more comfortable seeking mental health support without fear of judgment.

Keywords: College students; Counseling; Mental well-being; Seeking help; Self-stigma