An estimated 400-million people suffer from mental or neurological disorders globally, according to the South African Mental Health Awareness report for 2020.
In an effort to break the stigma around mental health on World Mental Health Day, advocacy group Cape Mental Health is calling on South Africans to fly their kites on Sunday.
The group is hosting a hybrid version of the Cape Town International Kite Festival on Sunday.
Social Work Manager at Cape Mental Health, Wasima Fisher says, “Mental health affects all of us. We all have mental health and we can all have a risk of mental health being affected and especially currently with the pandemic, it’s also been a mental health pandemic.”
“We have all been affected by a loss, of some sort of work, out livelihoods these are things that affect us and in terms of our mental health and also the loss of our way of life we’ve had or social life. The fact that we can’t Hug people, we cannot see propels facial expressions it’s all hidden behind masks these are things that all affect our mental health and people have become more depressed and anxious as a result of the impact of COVID.”
Below is the interview with Wasima Fisher:
