Mental health - The African Mirror

Dec

2023

Four children and their mother murdered in France

POLICE in France arrested a man suspected of murdering his wife and four children in a knife attack early on Christmas Day, a public prosecutor said. Their bodies were found on Monday night in a bloodied apartment in the town of Meaux, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Paris. Local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said the mother and two daughters had been stabbed so many times it was impossible to determine how many blows they had received. The family's two younger sons appeared to have been suffocated or drowned. Police detained the children's father, 33, at his residence in a nearby…

May

2023

By YOGAN PILLAY, FLAVIA SENKUBUGE, LUCY GILSON, SAIENDHRA MOODLEY and SUZI MALAN

Health workers cope with a huge amount of stress – how to build a resilient health system in South Africa

HEALTH

POPULAR and academic literature is replete with examples of how to cope with daily stresses. Mental health professions have also long researched and implemented strategies to deal with burnout from workplace stressors. Coping with stress is not a new phenomenon. But COVID-19 and the responses to the pandemic have increased our attention on how people and systems cope with stress-inducing shocks. This should not surprise us given the impact of COVID-19 on almost every aspect of our lives. There are indications that many people and countries are still struggling to emerge from its shadow. Resilience is a relatively new area…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Schools can be a great resource for mental health in South Africa

EDUCATION

IN the face of deep inequality, unemployment, high rates of crime and violence, and the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health trajectory for young South Africans looks bleak. Mental health is multi-faceted. It enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. When people face social and economic adversity, their risk of developing mental illness increases if they don’t have support that could protect them. Author SARAH SKEEN, Associate Professor, Global Health, Stellenbosch University Data on the exact burden of child and…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Early pregnancy can put young women’s mental health at risk: a review of African evidence

HEALTH

THE rates of adolescent pregnancies in sub-Saharan Africa are among the world’s highest. The adolescent birth rate is as high as 139 per 1,000 girls in Tanzania and 96 per 1,000 in Kenya. This is significantly higher than in developed countries like Canada where the adolescent birth rate is 8 births per 1,000 girls. Adolescent pregnancies are a major public health concern. They can lead to unplanned parenthood and poor health outcomes for young women. Early, unintended pregnancy can add stress to the normal physiological and behavioural changes of this time of life. In sub-Saharan African countries, adolescents and young…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Rapidly increasing climate change poses a rising threat to mental health, says IPCC

ENVIRONMENT

CLIMATE change poses serious risks to mental well-being. For the first time, a new climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has assessed how climate change is having widespread and cumulative effects on mental health globally. Authors ASHLEE CUNSOLO, Founding Dean, School of Arctic & Subarctic Studies, Labrador Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland BREANNE AYLWARD, PhD Student in Public Health, University of Alberta SHERILEE HARPER, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Health, University of Alberta Over the past decade, research and public interest on the effects of climate change on mental health have been increasing, as…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics-Biles out of next event, mental health in Games spotlight

SPORT

DAVID DOLAN, ELAINE LIES and MARTIN PETTY SIMONE Biles withdrew from the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, a day after she shocked the world by pulling out of the team event. Olympians past and present flooded the U.S. gymnast with messages of support as the mental health of athletes -- and the extra pressures brought by the COVID-19 pandemic -- were in sharp focus at the Games. "The advice I would give is to reach out, to colleagues and friends," said Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics. "Don't be afraid to show vulnerability, it's a badge…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Hamilton expresses support for Naomi Osaka

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER LEWIS Hamilton has expressed his support for Naomi Osaka, following her publicised withdrawal from the Roland Garros tournament. At a press conference ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Hamilton says that from experience, he understands how hard it is for young people to cope with the pressures of professional sport. “I think she’s an incredible athlete and human being,” he said. “Her activism has been just so impactful and at such a young age there’s so much weight on her shoulders. “It’s inevitable, the fact is, when you’re young you’re thrown into the limelight and…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Navratilova sad for Osaka, says mental health gets short shrift

SPORT

WOMEN’S tennis great Martina Navratilova has said she was saddened by Naomi Osaka's decision to withdraw from the French Open following the controversy over her decision to boycott media obligations. Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka announced her decision on Monday, a day after being fined $15,000 for not attending a post-match media conference and threatened with expulsion after her first-round win. The Japanese player, who cited the negative impact on her mental wellbeing caused by facing journalists at post-match press conferences as the reason for her boycott, wrote on Twitter that she had suffered from depression since 2018. Martina Navratilova…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Lady Gaga, Glenn Close join Prince Harry and Oprah for mental health TV series

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BRITAIN's Prince Harry and U.S. chat show queen Oprah Winfrey will premiere their television documentary series on mental health issues later this month, with singer Lady Gaga and actress Glenn Close among those contributing. "The Me You Can't See" series, co-created and produced by Harry and Winfrey, will feature stories from high-profile guests and others across the world about mental health and emotional well-being issues, Apple TV+, the streaming service which will air the programmes from May 21, said on Monday. Winfrey said the series aimed to spark a global conversation, and replace the shame surrounding mental health with wisdom…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

How the pandemic is hurting university students’ mental health

EDUCATION

EMMANUEL OJO, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand ANNIE BURGER, PhD student, Stellenbosch University ANTHONY J ONWUEGBUZIE, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge BRYAN JASON BERGSTEEDT, Lecturer (Clinical Anatomy), Stellenbosch University SAMANTHA ADAMS, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Psychology, Stellenbosch University TALITHA CROWLEY, Senior lecturer at the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Stellenbosch University INSTITUTIONS of higher education worldwide are undergoing unprecedented change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and colleges have been forced to switch to online teaching and learning. Many were unprepared for this move to what is termed emergency remote teaching and learning. It is now just more…