In addition to Nelson Mandela International Month, July is also Mental Illness Awareness Month, with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), being the leading voice in the mental health sector. Each week of July is dedicated to focus on specific mental illnesses: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from 3–9 July, Panic Disorder from 10–16 July, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) from 17–23 July and Social Phobia from 14–30 July.

More than ever, people are aware of the importance of talking about mental health and mental illness. Like physical health, mental health is a part of everyone’s life. Physical health is the state of your body, and mental health is the state of your mind, feelings, and emotions. Being mentally healthy contributes to feeling, thinking and acting in ways that help you enjoy life and cope with its challenges with enhanced resilience and inner-strength to cope with stressful situations. While mental health is always there and may be positive or negative, mental illness affects a person’s ability to function over a long period of time. People with mental illness may feel distressed regularly and not in control of their lives. Mental illness can impact how we see ourselves, how we see the world around us and how we interact with the world. Mental illnesses often involve changes in behaviour, mood or thinking with varying symptoms. These can include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, to list but a few. Experiencing any of these illnesses can be very challenging, but there are treatments and support available.

South African learners and teachers alike are exposed to various situations that can challenge their mental health and wellbeing, leading to illnesses such as Panic Disorders. A panic disorder is diagnosed when a person experiences unexpected panic attacks, which include some of the following: heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea, tingling, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling or shaking, loosing of control, fear of dying, numbness, chills or hot flashes and chest pains that occur repeatedly and unexpectedly, can last for a few minutes or longer. At the beginning, panic attacks may appear to be occurring in the absence of any external threat. Panic is twice as common in women as it is in men. The average length of a panic attack is 4 – 6 minutes. 50 – 70% of people that have experienced panic attacks avoid certain places and activities.

Is there a difference between a panic attack and disorder? Panic attacks are brief and intense. They bring on physical sensations such as difficulty in breathing, rapid heart rate, tense muscles and tightening in the chest. They last from 20 to 30 minutes. Often people may suffer one or two such attacks in a lifetime. However, if these attacks are recurrent or if the individual feels an ongoing fear of another attack, they may have panic disorder. Triggers can include, but are not limited to writing an examination, having experienced trauma including natural disasters, physical or emotional violence and abuse, harmful experiences from drugs or loss of a loved one as well as work stress in the case of adults; however, help is available to assist with coping mechanisms and on the spot tips to help parents and their children through these attacks.

Using an online self-screening tool, concerned individuals can conduct online tests to assess their mental health and awareness. These tests look for signs, symptoms and patterns of feelings that can assist with a diagnosis. In addition, parents, teachers and learners should not feel ashamed to visit a clinic or therapist for assistance in respect of mental health challenges. Visit www.sadag.org.za for additional information.

The DBE has developed The Guide for LSAs and Schools on providing Psychosocial Support to Learners and the Solution Focussed Basic Counselling Skills Manual to provide guidance to School-Based Support Teams (SBSTs) on how they can provide first line basic counselling support to learners requiring psychosocial services and referrals where applicable.