The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) is calling for improved mental health awareness and support across the country.
SASOP says there has been a surge in the number of patients seeking mental health services during the pandemic.
Experts have noted an increase in depression, anxiety and eating disorder admissions.
SASOP Convenor, Professor Renata Schoeman, says a large number people are not receiving adequate treatment for mental health illnesses.
“People might not be aware of it but often we ask people how many of them have been struggling with at least symptoms. It is actually shocking that many people are suffering in silence. So the stigma is real. There is really a lack of resources. It is dire in the public and private sectors. We see that there is not enough psychiatrists or psychologists or medicine or access to affordable medication as well,” says Schoeman.
One in three South Africans experience common mental health disorders:
According to the Gauteng Health Department, at Helen Joseph hospital, as of January this year, the hospital treated 876 patients at the Emergency unit compared to 80 in January last year.
The increase in mental health patients is attributed to a number of factors, including socio-economic hardships which have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale use and abuse of illegal substances.
Psychiatrist and head of the MBA in Healthcare Leadership at the Stellenbosch Business School, Professor Renata Schoeman says red flags go beyond a depressed mood.
“I might it’s not even necessarily have a depressed mood, but if I lose interest and joy in the things that I used to enjoy and loved doing and my motivation and drive is decreasing that is a red flag. Now that, in combination with changes in my sleeping patterns, changes in my appetite, changes in my thought processes, I become more negative or even start to question the value of life and consider suicide,” says Schoeman.
