About 40 patients from Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital’s Male Acute Unit attended a psychosocial disability awareness session hosted by Cape Mental Health at the hospital on Thursday, 25 July.
July is Psychosocial Disability Awareness Month, which emphasises a message of accessibility and inclusion. Field social workers from Cape Mental Health informed patients about the organisation’s services, which they can access once they are discharged from hospital.
Psychosocial disabilities are illnesses such as bipolar mood disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar-affective disorder, schizo-affective disorder, substance induced mood disorder and substance induced psychotic disorder.
André Weavers, a social worker at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital’s Male Acute Unit, said the unit provides care to male patients with a range of mental health illnesses.
“A lot of men struggle with mental health issues because of stigma. They are not allowed to be emotional or expressive. Education for us is key. If a patient knows his diagnoses and what is wrong, he will be able to respond better and know where to seek help. Part and parcel of today was to break the stigma and to say that there is life beyond your mental illness. You are still men, despite your diagnoses,” he said.
Mr Weavers said partnerships with stakeholders such as Cape Mental Health are key.
“Once patients are discharged from the hospital, they (Cape Mental Health) provide aftercare and support services. It is good for patients to know what resources and services they can access,” he said.
Mastura Salasa-Schaffers, a field social worker at Cape Mental Health, said the organisation goes all out to raise awareness about psychosocial disabilities because they affect individuals, families, and communities.
“We make it our mission to bring awareness because a lot of people still don’t know what it entails. A mental illness is not something you can see physically. So, people just assume that you can continue as normal when there are limitations because of your illness.
“The message we want to bring across is for people to be kind. We need to be more kind to everyone because we all have our struggles, some more than others. Some struggles are deeper and have turned into illnesses that need to be managed,” she said.
Ms Salasa-Schaffers said relatives of people with mental illnesses should refrain from judgmental statements as psychosocial disabilities present differently from person to person.
“Every case of bipolar, schizophrenia or depression is different because we are different. It is important not to say things like ‘you look okay’, or ‘I had depression before and I got out of it fine, so why are you still struggling’. You should rather ask ‘what is it that you are struggling with and how you can help?’,” she said.
Claudia Cogill, a field auxiliary social worker at Cape Mental Health, encouraged families to break down walls that separate them from their loved ones with mental illnesses.
“If they educate themselves, and get into support groups and understand the illness, then they will accept and become that safety net for the person.
“It is not just an individual with a mental illness that is going through it, but the entire family and community. The community also plays a part, where it comes to labelling and people in society don’t want to reach out to these free services because they don’t want to associate with the person and the stigma. That is why we create this awareness to break the stigma and discrimination,” she said.
Mr Weavers also urged communities to embrace everyone despite their disability and mental illness.
“We all have what it takes to bring about change. Accept people with mental illnesses. They surround us every day,” he added.
For more information about psychosocial disabilities and information on Cape Mental Health’s support services, contact the organisation on 021 447 9040.
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