Black men tough it out -- until they can’t cope
THERE is massive stigma around mental illness in South Africa, especially among black men as they are not encouraged to talk about their emotions because this is seen as a sign of weakness, according to South African Depression and Anxiety Group operations director Cassey Chambers.
“Society still doesn’t understand enough about mental illness,” she said.
An average of 23 South Africans take their own lives each day.
Men are five times more likely to commit suicide.
Chambers said Sadag received 400 calls a day from people seeking help.
“Depression has no single face. It can be anybody. It could be someone living in an alley looking like a hobo, and it can be a soccer mom rushing off to the next extramural activity loaded on codeine to get through the day.”
Psychologist Dr Mike West said suicide statistics could be just the tip of the iceberg as countless cases of depression are never recorded.
“Among rural South Africans, a staggering 67% have experienced a traumatic event. So how do we even measure the impact of that on the country?”
Also, 75% of those needing care for mental health do not receive it.
He said the difficulty was that there was no biomarker (such as a blood tests, for example) to check for depression.
“Two psychiatrists can see the same patient and come up with different diagnoses, but we have to treat the underlying causes [of depression], so the first step is to acknowledge that something is not right,” West said.
Psychiatrist Dr Shaheen Kader said: “The lack of clinical attention that depression sometimes receives is what results in suicide. Individuals who most need treatment are also the best at masking their depression.”
❛ I wanted to kill myself because I was not getting gigs