Kasabay nito, naikuwento rin niya ang pinagdaanang depresyon habang namumuhay nang solo sa US matapos ngang lisanin ang Pilipinas at iwan pansamantala ang kanyang showbiz career.
Sa vlog ng kaibigan at kapwa niya aktres na si Michelle Madrigal, napagkuwentuhan nila ang tungkol sa buhay-showbiz at ang pakikipaglaban nila sa depression.
“Mahirap talaga. You’ll cry a lot. And I moved here alone. No family, no support system,” ang simulang pagbabahagi ni Carla.
Sey ni Michelle, may ilang mga Pinoy na hindi pa rin talaga aware sa tunay na kahulugan ng depression at kung paano nila dapat pakitunguhan ang mga taong dumaranas ng nasabing mental health condition.
“Sa atin kasi sa Filipino culture, parang when someone says they’re depressed or whatever, they don’t acknowledge that. And honestly, you have to. ‘Cause sa atin, ‘Oh malungkot ka lang. Tomorrow you’ll be fine. Umiyak ka lang. ‘Wag ka masyado mag-isip’. Masyado ka nag-iisip eh,’” lahad ni Michelle.
Dagdag pa niya, “Depression is real. Like for people, they neglect it. And they don’t accept it. Kasi for them, parang embarrassment ‘yun if you’re feeling those emotions.
“So, when someone tells you, you get to know them. You have to hear their stories. ‘Cause sometimes, kung ‘yung anak mo they come to you, it means that they’re asking for help. You have to acknowledge. You have to help them out. Because if not, they will rely on other things,” chika pa ng hindi na aktibong aktres.
Sinang-ayunan naman ito ni Carla, “And when you’re suppressed, that’s when you end up doing toxic things or you poison your life kasi hindi mo ma-release ‘yung emotions mo,” pahayag pa ni Carla.
“Or you can’t talk to anybody. You feel like, ‘Oh well, my mom, my dad or my sister, they don’t even listen to me. They think wala lang ‘to. It’s just in my head,” paliwanag naman ni Michelle.
Samantala, dito rin naikuwento ni Carla ang naging buhay niya sa US kabilang na ang mga karanasan niya noong kasagsagan ng pandemya.
“I’ve been wanting to actually tell my story for so long. And I’ve been filming so much of it but since I had so much going on, I didn’t have the courage to put something out,” simulang pahayag ni Carla.
“It was really tough because I hadn’t really planned on moving to the United States. I was here for a week and my friend had told me like you should totally come to LA and I came here thinking tingnan ko nga kung I can live here,” pagpapatuloy pa ng dalaga.
“I didn’t have any big ideas na I’m going to come here and I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that. I was like ‘Tingnan ko nga ‘cause I feel like everyone in my life has a different stage already and I felt like I needed to search for myself in another place. And I felt like LA was calling me,” pag-amin ng aktres.
Pagpapatuloy pa ni Carla, “I came out here and the pandemic hit. When the pandemic hit, sa totoo lang, I was overwhelmed because I was in a new country, I had no family and friends in Los Angeles.
“My only friend was nice enough to introduce me to his family, Dante Basco and his family took me in during the pandemic.
“I was alone mentally. Mentally, I was in the Philippines, thinking of the worst, worrying about my family, didn’t know if I should go back or stay here. I had to figure out how to take care of myself, I didn’t have a car until now. And I just figured out how to get around. I would walk at least 10 miles a day,” sey pa niya tungkol sa mga struggle niya sa Amerika.
Dagdag pa niya, “I really want to stay in the creative field, but also, you have to be able to support yourself day-to-day. And until now, everything that I spend, I still convert it to pesos. And I’m like ‘Wait, I’m going to eat fruit for 500 pesos? Like why?’”
“I realized my resilience. The beautiful thing about the Philippines is you’ll never feel alone kahit you’re around strangers, hindi ka magugutom. You always have people ask you how you are. Here talaga, it’s like every man for themselves because it’s hard enough to support yourself,” emosyonal pang kuwento ni Carla.