MEDIA RELEASE
23 October 2013
Mental Health for Life
October is Mental Health Awareness Month
This October, Mental Health Awareness Month, pioneering non-profit organisation Cape Mental
Health (CMH) is raising awareness on the importance of good mental health throughout life.
Today (Wednesday 23 October) representatives of Cape Mental Health, including service-users
and affiliated organisations, will form a human chain in Company Gardens, Cape Town. “We will
be holding hands to show our support for adequate mental health care for all,” said Maleeka
Mokallik, PR & Communications Manager for Cape Mental Health.
“Mental health problems are one of the leading burdens of disease in this country yet only a tiny
percentage of annual health budget is directed to mental health,” says Ingrid Daniels, Director of
Cape Mental Health. “Funding is simply not adequate to deliver the care needed to help people
to recover and stay well.”
World Mental Health Day earlier this month focused on ‘Mental Health and Older Persons’.
According to Daniels mental health problems can strike at any age and older people are at risk on
a number of levels. “What happens when aged parents need care themselves? There are simply
no facilities that will also accommodate their adult dependents who have an intellectual or
psychiatric disability.”
Although psychiatric problems are common, affecting an estimated one in six* people globally
and locally, few services exist for older people with a mental illness or psychiatric disability - such as
bipolar mood disorders, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. The World Health Organisation says
that depression will be the number two leading cause of disability by 2020 and number one by 2030
– older people are as much at risk as younger people. “Many people can find themselves isolated
in their later years,” says Daniels. “Families may have moved away for work or other reasons, friends
who are also getting older may no longer be around. The cost of private mental health care is
prohibitive for those on pension. Community care does not necessarily reach older people unless
there is a crisis.”
Daniels stressed that very few facilities make provision for older people with mental disabilities,
“People with Down Syndrome experience early onset of aging yet adults with intellectual disabilities
are too often excluded when government and local groups makes plan to manage an ageing
population.”
Daniels says that Cape Mental Health this year celebrates 100 years of service delivery. “We know
that given the right care and support, people with mental illness and psychiatric disability can
enjoy meaningful and healthy lives,” she says. “Yet a staggering 75% of people who live with
mental disorders in South Africa do not receive the care that they need.”
Daniels says that community based services are limited by inadequate funding. “We are
committed to providing the very best mental health care that funding allows. As we head into our
second century of work in the Western Cape, we are driven by a mission to reach those where
services do not exist, particularly in rural communities, to challenge discriminatory practices and
make mental health a reality for all – at every stage of life. This can only happen if additional
finances are forthcoming from Government and donors.”
For more details on Cape Mental Health, visit www.capementalhealth.co.za or contact them on
021 447 9040 / info@cmh.org.za.
ENDS
Sources / References:
•
Mental disorders rank third in their contribution to the burden of disease in this country Bradshaw D, Norman R, Schneider M. A clarion call for action based on refined DALY
estimates for South Africa. South African Medical Journal 2007; 97: 438-440.
•
Approximately 1 in 6 South Africans are likely to experience a common mental disorder
(depression, anxiety or substance use disorder) during the current year - Williams DR,
Herman A, Stein DJ, Heeringa SG, Jackson PB, et al.Prevalence, Service Use and
Demographic Correlates of 12-Month Psychiatric Disorders in South Africa: The South African
Stress and Health Study. Psychological Medicine 2008; 38: 211-220.
•
75% of people who live with mental disorders in South Africa do not receive the care that
they need - Williams DR, Herman A, Stein DJ, Heeringa SG, Jackson PB, et al. Prevalence,
Service Use and Demographic Correlates of 12-Month Psychiatric Disorders in South Africa:
The South African Stress and Health Study. Psychological Medicine 2008; 38: 211-220
•
Petersen I, Lund C. Mental health service delivery in South Africa from 2000 to 2010: One
step forward, one step back. South African Medical Journal 2011; 101: 751-757.
•
Lund C, Kleintjes S, Kakuma R, Flisher A, the MRPC. Public sector mental health systems in
South Africa: inter-provincial comparisons and policy implications. Social Psychiatry and
Psychiatric Epidemiology 2010; 45: 393-404.
Issued on behalf of Cape Mental Health by On Course Communication.
For media queries contact Cathy Williams on (021) 782 0877 / 084 682 2847 /
Info@OnCourseCommunication.co.za.