WATCH: Villa Liza Clinic shines a spotlight on mental health

With October being Mental Health Awareness Month, the Department of Health, in conjunction with Tswaranang Community Centre and Villa Liza Clinic, held an awareness campaign on mental health and substance abuse on October 29.

The event, mostly attended by the youth, kicked off with a march where participants held placards with messages such as “Let’s support our mental ill family members”, “We can beat depression” and “Let’s protect our mentally ill patients”.

To encourage residents to report mental health issues, especially when mentally ill people pose risks to themselves or family members, attendees visited some of the houses that were reportedly burned down by mental health patients.

Villa Liza Clinic social worker Yolanda Mshumpela said the event was aimed at educating the public about mental health, so they can be equipped to assist people with mental illness in their communities.

“Due to the number of mental illnesses cases of people who enormously abused substance, we decided to mobilise efforts to share light on mental issues.
“Through this campaign, we want community members to stand up and report issues they come across so they can get assistance,” said Mshumpela.

Another speaker at the event, Sr Phindile Nziyane, enlightened attendees about the types of mental illnesses.
She shared that people who take too much of a certain drug end up developing a drug-induced psychosis, which is a psychotic episode.

“Other conditions include depressive disorder, which results from stress. People who suffer from depression isolate themselves and tend to feel too lazy to take care of themselves to such an extent that they don’t even bathe. An unattended depression can lead to suicide.
“If you are stressed, it is advisable to talk to a psychologist before it’s too late,” said Nziyane.

She pointed out that women tend to suffer from post-natal depression after giving birth.

“This is sometimes due to lack of support or the experience women go through during or after birth. If people don’t pay attention, the mother can end up neglecting the child or even killing the innocent baby.”

Nziyane added that bipolar disorder is another mental disorder that causes shifts in a person’s mood and energy levels.

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“We also have schizophrenia, which includes delusions and hallucinations. Another condition, that affects mostly elderly people, is dementia.
“Dementia results in loss of memory and forgetfulness. An elderly person can forget where they live and end up at the wrong house. Unfortunately, in our society we still find people who accuse the elderly of witchcraft when they find them in their yards.”

Nziyane urged community members to refrain from stigmatising mental illness and added that mental illness can affect anyone.

Melanie January of Tswaranang Community Centre, which deals with mental illness and orphaned children, shared that drug abuse in the area is a serious issue.

“We’ve discovered that there is a lot of young people who’ve abused substances and ended up having prolonged psychotic reactions.
“We also found that many families and community members ignore people with mental issues until it’s too late. With the campaign, we encourage the public to come forth and seek assistance because with the right treatment and support patients can recover.”

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