Mental health remains an issue, as more men commit suicide than women

South Africa has been making strides in spreading mental health awareness, breaking the cycle and increasing the number of institutions for information, support and therapy.

However the stigma for men of mental health issues is arguably still a crisis.

The University of the Witwatersrand yesterday hosted a wellness talk on men and mental health with clinical psychologist Mthetho Tshemese.

Staff and students talked about men’s mental well-being and encouraged more men to speak up about any issues.

Narrating his experience, Tshemese said men often experienced emotional difficulties without an outlet because not enough spaces had been created for them to speak out about what was bothering them.

“Men are unable to deal with their daily challenges, which is why we have stats which prove men commit suicide more than women in the world,” he said.

“When we fail to live up to expectations related to status, because provision is a main marker of a man, we can become emotionally and mentally challenged.”

He said men seldom purposefully received or showed each other love. “I had my first hug [which was not from a girlfriend] when I was 20 years old, from a friend in university.

Before that, I had never received a hug from anyone else. “According to the Auditor-General our country has significant gaps in the state’s mental health services, including poor planning, monitoring and reporting.”

Auditor-General Andrew Richardson conducted a major review into how the health department ran mental health services, which showed, although there were key planning, monitoring and reporting processes, these were not operating effectively.

“Because of these gaps, SA health is not able to demonstrate how well it is performing,” the review noted.

In his note “Poor mental health is the post-Covid pandemic”, published by Business Day, executive manager: health and awareness at Transnet Dr Marion Borcherds said the mental health of the younger generation had reportedly plummeted, with vulnerable groups being the worst off.

“It is no wonder that in certain quarters the neglect of mental health is being labelled a violation of human rights, with only 27% of people with mental disorders in SA receiving treatment,” Borcherds wrote.

Only 50% of hospitals had psychiatrists, 30% did not have a psychologist and SA was “hitting rock bottom on the Global Health Index for mental health”.

He said Covid had amplified the mental health gap, with a recent study conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council reporting that 33% of respondents were depressed, 45% were afraid and 29% experienced loneliness, physical distancing and staying at home with little social interaction.

ALSO READ: Suicide high among men in South Africa

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za