Psychology in the Media

Hundreds of Activists Join the KZN Mental Health Walk 2023

by PsySSA-Web Support | Oct 11, 2023 | Community and Engagement, Media and Public Awareness, Mental Health Advocacy, Psychology in the Media

Despite wet and windy weather conditions, 850 people turned up to support the KZN Mental Health Advocacy Walk last Sunday, ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10.

Many familiar PsySSA faces also belonged to the main organizing committee of the KwaZulu-Natal Mental Health Advocacy Group, under whose auspices the walk is hosted. They include Suntosh Pillay, co-founder of the Advocacy Group and executive member of the PsySSA Community and Social Psychology Division; Lynne Richards, who managed the walk’s logistics with the eThekwini Municipality, and is the chairperson of the PsySSA Trauma and Violence Division; and Rivendri Govender, who ensured that over 30 organisations attended the related Wellness Fair, and is the Secretary of the Society for Educational Psychology of South Africa (SEPSA) with Professor Suvira Ramlall, a psychiatrist who co-founded of the event with Pillay, this small team pulled of another well-attended walk for the eight year running.

Pillay says that the 5km walk “continues to grow every year as the flagship community-driven mental health event in the province, if not the country. We are probably the biggest, free, mental health walk in South Africa right now.” People came from all corners of KZN, including Chatsworth, the South Coast, Madadeni and Pietermaritzburg, and brought placards and posters to voice their slogans. The SABC, Isolezwe, and local newspapers all supported the walk with media coverage. Govender said a walk is a fun and interactive way to get people to engage with the topic of mental health “which people shy away from”. “We are encouraging people to take a stand against the stigma.” Richards agrees. “Annually, the walks brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds to advocate together. It is a wonderful day filled with activities, such as yoga and aerobics.”

The theme for #WMHD 2023 is “Mental health is a universal human right”. Pillay said this topic is especially pertinent given the current debates about National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa and the best way to achieve universal health coverage. “NHI is one option; but whatever funding mechanism we use to gain equity of access to healthcare, psychosocial services must be included from the outset. There is no debate that psychology professionals are an essential service,” said Pillay.

The related wellness fair at the North Beach amphitheater had 30 organisations to interact with the public, including the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), Refugee Social Services, the Durban Book Fair, the Mum’s Support Network, Mondia Health, Medis Medical Software, the KZN Department of Health, Akeso, and Joint Medical Holdings.

Pierre Buckley, from the Global Interfaith Network (GIN), joined as an LGBTQ+ activist. “GIN understands the importance of wellbeing in its entirely,” said Buckley. “Being present and supporting the walk adds our voice and presence to support the urgency to address mental wellness in society. This was a meaningful event.”

To support the event, contact suntoshpillay@gmail.com

Photo credits: Vijay Ramballie.

The voices of concern over our failing health care system

by PsySSA-Web Support | Jun 24, 2022 | Events and Announcements, Media and Public Awareness, Psychology in the Media, PsySSA Announcements

On 21 June 2022, the Maverick Citizen published a unprecedented open letter from more than 130 senior health professionals addressed to the Minister of Health and the Premier of Gauteng.

The article stated: “the health professionals include senior academics, senior specialists of major public hospitals and heads of department, a former director-general, deputy director-general, deans of university health faculties, former heads of provincial health departments, the chair and CEO of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, the president of the Medical Research Council and the CEO of the board of Healthcare Funders.

Each person signs “I am” followed by their name, as a direct challenge to authorities to discipline them if they dare.

The letter is written in solidarity with Dr Tim De Maayer, whose own open letter about the dire conditions at Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital earned him the support of many – and a suspension from work. The resulting outcry saw him being reinstated, but there were reports of ongoing victimisation at work, which provoked another groundswell of support.

The “I Am” movement arose spontaneously in recent days.”

In light of this movement, PsySSA has written to the Department of Health’s Director General, Dr Sandile Buthelezi and its Gauteng Head of Department, Dr Nomonde Nolutshungu, expressing our concern over our failing health care system and joining the multitude of health professionals in condemning the health authorities’ negative responses to Dr Tim De Maayer who sought to highlight the poor conditions at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.

Consistent with Dr De Maayer’s assessment, many of our members working in government health care can confirm that “things are falling apart”. In this context, it is important to recognise the wider ethical duty of health professionals. They have a professional imperative to do everything possible to improve the health and wellbeing of their patients, which includes raising the alarm regarding contextual factors that militate against patient care. In other words, health care workers, including administrators, who fail to do this may be considered to be failing in their ethical duty to serve humanity and advocate for patient care.

We urge the government health authorities to acknowledge and address the failings in the health care system, and listen to the voices of citizens, health workers and anyone who has an interest in improving our health care system.

Click here to read the Daily Maverick's, "I Am" Movement Article

Tele-mental health in the digital age: Prospects, pitfalls and provocations for psychological interventions beyond COVID-19

by PsySSA-Web Support | Oct 21, 2020 | COVID-19, Media and Public Awareness, Psychology in the Media

Webinar Series

Tele-mental health in the digital age: Prospects, pitfalls and provocations for psychological interventions beyond COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a rapid global transition to forms of tele-health – and for us within the discipline and profession of psychology – tele-mental health. While both tele-health programmes and tele-mental health initiatives have been available for several decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an accelerated impetus for the widespread uptake and use of online technology platforms in the delivery of psychological services. Some of this has been related to necessity, as practitioners have attempted to maintain their responsiveness to patients, as well as preserve their own personal income streams. In other instances, many have seen the value of technology in enhancing access to psychological services, that overcomes some of the historical inequities around health information, education and interventions.

But there are also a number of new questions that this transition has raised. What are the new dimensions of ethics and the broad principles of conduct for practitioners under these new conditions? In addition, how efficacious are interventions based on tele-mental health, and how well does patient care and risk management measure up relative to face-to-face interventions? What are the technological dimensions that are both enabling and disabling within these new delivery platforms? How are different practitioners, working in different modalities and from different theoretical perspectives, able or unable to adjust to this new delivery mode? Finally, which psychological needs are best suited to being serviced through these new technologies, and which are less appropriate and amenable to intervention through this medium?

In this webinar, we have several practitioners who are differently located within the profession, and who self-identify as having specific paradigmatic affinities, in dialogue on these prospects, pitfalls and provocations. Given that the effects of COVID-19 are likely to reverberate for some time across all aspects of social life, these are critical points of engagement for practitioners and professionals as the digital age becomes more sedimented in all parts of our lives.

Meet our Panellists!

Moderator: Prof Anthony Pillay

Anthony Pillay, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Psychology & a Past President of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA). He received his post-doctoral training in Maternal and Child Health at Harvard and his research areas include forensic psychology, professional training, and the mental health of women and children

Panellist:

Dylan Evans

Dylan Evans is a clinical psychologist working in private practice and also Fort Napier Psychiatric Hospital, where he is involved in intern training. He is a little bit of a geek and enjoys tinkering with technology and therefore has an interest in the applications of technology in psychotherapeutic practice. This has led to research on how psychologists use technology in their practices and also the development of initial guidelines for telepsychology in South Africa.

Dr. Kgamadi Kometsi

Dr. Kgamadi Kometsi is a Clinical Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg. He has taught both at UCT and at Wits in the past, and has recently rejoined the academy following a stint as a manager in the public sector. Dr. Kometsi has a private practice in Highlands North, where he practices a psychoanalytically influenced psychotherapy.

Dr Colinda Linde

Dr Colinda Linde. Colinda is a clinical psychologist, in private practice since 1993 and specialising in cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety disorders, sleep issues, stress and burnout. She is the founder of The CBT Group, also the creator of the CBT site Thoughtsfirst (www.thoughtsfirst.com) which reflects her passion for self-help.

Colinda has been involved with SADAG since 1999, as an Advisory Board member and Director, also former Chairperson. Her portfolio includes media as well as counsellor selection and training. She is regularly quoted in written media and professional journals, frequently interviewed on radio and television as an expert guest, and is a keynote speaker on mental health topics and more.
Colinda has authored several books, including Get the balance right- coping strategies for working mothers (Metz Press, 2005), Dealing with panic the CBT way (Alembic, 2015) and Practical Mindfulness (Alembic, 2018) co-authored with Neil Bierbaum, co-founder of the Practical Mindfulness programme.

Mr Zamo Mbele

Zamo Mbele is a clinical psychologist currently practicing as a senior psychotherapist and supervising psychologist at Tara H. Moross Hospital and at the WITS Donald Gordon Medical Centre. Zamo is the vice-chairperson of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), and a director of the Ububele Education Trust.

Webinar Details

Date: Tuesday, 10th of November 2020

Time: 18:30 – 20:30

Platform: WebinarJam

Join us on WebinarJam as we unpack the Tele-mental health in the digital age, and earn 2 General CEU Points!

Click Here to Register for this Webinar!