Anele Tembe’s death triggers conversation about depression

The death of AKA’s fiance, Anele Tembe, was possibly suicide and while the matter is still with Cape Town police, the death of Nellie, as she was affectionately known, is a hot topic, with many South Africans opening up about their mental health.

Many have taken to social media to talk about their struggles with depression and some have shared their own attempted suicide stories.

According to Betterhealth.vic.gov.au, mental illness can be summarised as a general term for a group of illnesses that may impact a person’s thoughts, perceptions, feelings and behaviour.

Mental illness has the ability to affect your working and personal relationships. Medication and counselling can help with managing mental illness.

Medical professional Dr Caroline Odman (@carolune) took to Twitter to inform her 3,782 followers that she too suffers from mental illness and takes medication to treat it. Her tweet reads:

The Twitter post gave other users the courage to share their personal stories as well, starting an unintentional mental health awareness thread.