Prioritising Mental Health
This month we’ve been focusing on mental health at the Gansbaai clinic.
Everywhere in impoverished communities, individuals may experience mental breakdown and challenges as a result of the unpleasant situations they face in their lives, be it at work, home, school or within their relationships.
They often find it difficult to disclose or discuss with someone because they feel influenced by trust issues and stigma. This often causes them to bottle up their feelings. This inevitably impact their lives negatively as they feel overwhelmed. This may result in self-destructive behaviour and even suicidal tendencies.
At i-MED Africa, we consider it essential to raise awareness of mental health amongst the local people in communities in Masakhane, Stanford and Pearly Beach. As a result, we host monthly informative workshops on each site, which are presented by our mental health Program Manager. Our main objective is to educate our local communities about situations that may impact their mental wellbeing, as well as other mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and bipolarism, and different ways of coping with stress and symptoms.
These workshops will usually include the encouragement of open discussion, different ways to cope constructively with stress and difficult situations, and to provide them with the tools they need to deal with mental disorders and stigma. In these communities, stigma is often prevalent as it is not seen as a physical ailment, and therefore a lot of these remain complete untreated.
It is our goal to educate people about symptoms, behaviour and management of these disorders.
To continue to do the work we do and to reach out to more towns and do more intensive work with members of the community, we need your help with funding for 2023.
For more information or if you are able to assist, please contact i-MED Africa.
i-MED africa Gansbaai is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO), non-profit company (NPC), and public benefit organisation (PBO) based in Masakhane. Dedicated to improving the health and well-being of local communities, the organisation’s programmes focus on child health, mental health, first ...
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Read MoreThis month we’ve been focusing on mental health at the Gansbaai clinic.
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