One in six South Africans suffered from anxiety, depression, or substance abuse disorders, according to the SA College of Applied Psychology in 2018 in a pre-COVID existence.
Today, we would be lucky if only one in six of us battle with mental health issues. Writing in the Mail & Guardian, Ahmed Banderker says we cannot deny that people’s mental health has taken severe strain and the issue continues to spiral out of control – unless we are prepared to close the existing gaps.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa experienced a more than 36.4% increase in anxiety disorder prevalence during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The country also saw a more than 38.7% increase in major depressive disorders over the same period.
If the abovementioned one-in-six statistic is considered, then it won’t be long before the whole nation is battling with a decline of mental health.
This is not just a South African problem either. Research from a WHO mental health and COVID-19 scientific brief suggests the pandemic and its subsequent restrictions led to a worldwide surge in mental health problems, including rampant depression and anxiety.
These data indicated there was an increased risk for young people as the longer-term impact of the pandemic and associated economic recession on mental health and suicide rates remains a concern.
Given SA’s extraordinary high levels of youth unemployment, this spells disaster for their mental health and presents a looming crisis. If not treated with the utmost care and haste, we could find ourselves with a mass grave of young men and women who take their own lives because they feel they have nowhere else to go.
Declining mental health is a major risk factor for suicide – the fourth most common cause of death among young people worldwide, particularly affecting vulnerable, marginalised populations.
With SA’s significant shortage of available mental healthcare skills, our greatest challenge lies in closing the gaps resulting from increased demand, lack of access, affordability and even acceptance of the need for care of mental health issues within our communities.
The mental health crisis can be overcome with a three-pronged approach.
First, we must deal with the issue of acceptability. Mental health issues are not signs of weakness, yet many South Africans are ashamed to seek help. If we can engage with communities about the dangers of mental health problems, we can finally identify and treat the millions suffering in silence, fearing that their fragility is a failure and should be hidden.
Second, access to appropriate levels of care must be improved. But if we can’t identify the issues, we cannot offer solutions. This begins by setting up screening processes providing actionable insights. You can’t just identify the problem: our people need a solution before they end up as another statistic. After identifying the problem, it is imperative we provide managed care offering long-term relief that will ultimately stem the tide of mental trauma.
Finally, we cannot tackle mental health issues if we don’t make it affordable for all South Africans. Currently, most people believe that psychological and psychiatric care is reserved for the elite.
This is validated by the recent Global Mental Health Price Index 2022, which found South Africa to have the 24th most expensive mental healthcare out of 50 countries. It doesn’t have to be that way. Digital technologies now provides virtual access to more affordable services appropriate for early interventions.
Acceptability, access, and affordability – the triple-A approach to closing the mental healthcare gaps. If we focus on overcoming these three obstacles, then we can nurture a more resilient, compassionate and mentally fit nation. If we don’t do it soon, we will continue to slip into despair.
Ahmed Banderker is chief executive of the AfroCentric Group, a black-owned, investment holding company that is substantially invested in healthcare.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
SA performs below par in Global Mental Health Price Index 2022
Wellcome Data Prize to help understand young South Africans’ mental health crisis
Increasing need for mental healthcare for ageing South Africans
Young women’s mental health worst hit by COVID – UCT and MRC
SA warnings of possible post-pandemic mental health crisis echo global study