Search
Welcome
  • Login
  • Register
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe here
Register Now
  • Login
  • Register
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
                       
Careers & Tenders
Newsletters
Subscribe
The Mail & Guardian
      SUBSCRIBE / Support independent journalism                   CAREERS & TENDERS / Visit careers.mg.co.za                   WHATSAPP? / Follow the M&G WhatsApp channel here            
Login / Register

LOGIN

  • News
    • Africa
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Education
    • Health
    • Motoring
    • National
    • Sci-tech
    • Sport
    • World
  • Thought Leader
  • Politics
  • Green Guardian
  • Friday
  • The Diplomat
  • Research World
    • Submissions
    • Papers
  • 200 Young South Africans
  • Events
    • 200 Young South Africans
    • Greening The Future
    • Power Of Women
    • 2024 Edition
    • Critical Thinking Forum
    • Youth Summit
    • Webinars
  • More..
    • Cabinet Report Cards 2012-2021
    • Cabinet Report Cards 2023
    • Partners
    • Podcasts
    • Crossword
    • Digital Editions
    • Register
    • WhatsApp Channel
    • Login
    • Lost Password

           

Mental Health

Oh Lordey, self-care as warfare
Analysis
/ 15 June 2017

Oh Lordey, self-care as warfare

Looking after your own wellbeing should be about self-affirmation and not costly facials

By Kiri Rupiah
#LifeEsidimeni: More than a year later, still no prosecutions
Article
/ 7 June 2017

#LifeEsidimeni: More than a year later, still no prosecutions

Families say many are still waiting for results of autopsies performed last year.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
Is racism making our children sick?
Article
/ 15 May 2017

Is racism making our children sick?

Children who experience discrimination may be more at risk of mental and physical ill-health.

By Joan Van Dyk
Suicide and the violence of our words
Article
/ 10 May 2017

Suicide and the violence of our words

What if we thought of suicide as the outcome of a terminal illness instead of the outcome of an action?

By Lizette Rabe Guest Author
​The Foxy Five: Issue-driven, thinly written but rich with potential
Article
/ 9 May 2017

​The Foxy Five: Issue-driven, thinly written but rich with potential

The creator of  ‘The Foxy Five’ deserves praise, but the writing could improve.

By Staff Reporter
​Air pollution drives mental trauma
Article
/ 2 May 2017

​Air pollution drives mental trauma

People living in cities and downwind of coal power stations breathe in high levels of nitrogen dioxide, which does significant damage to wellbeing.

By Sipho Kings
Will my medical expenses get paid if I become suicidal?
Article
/ 20 April 2017

Will my medical expenses get paid if I become suicidal?

Medical aids cover far less for psychiatric illnesses than they do for physical ailments.

By Ina Skosana and Joan Van Dyk
Why South Africa is sad – and getting sadder
Article
/ 30 March 2017

Why South Africa is sad – and getting sadder

War-torn Somalia spent more than two decades without a working Parliament, so why are Somalis happier than South Africans?

By Ina Skosana
‘I was married to a Boko Haram’: What happens when a victim returns to her village?
Article
/ 7 March 2017

‘I was married to a Boko Haram’: What happens when a victim returns to her village?

Eighty two of the Chibok school girls, kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria three years ago, have been released. But what now?

By Staff Reporter
#LifeEsidimeni: Patients still missing after deadly move from state care
Article
/ 23 February 2017

#LifeEsidimeni: Patients still missing after deadly move from state care

Gauteng health department hopes to avoid legal battle as more bodies are discovered.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
#SONA2017: Mbete refuses moment of silence for 94 dead mental health patients
Article
/ 10 February 2017

#SONA2017: Mbete refuses moment of silence for 94 dead mental health patients

Key players say the culture of government created by Jacob Zuma allowed the deaths of 94 health patients.

By Mia Malan
Health MEC quits as patient death tally almost triples
Article
/ 1 February 2017

Health MEC quits as patient death tally almost triples

Almost 100 Gauteng mental health patients died after MEC Qedani Mahlangu’s disastrous decision, the health ombud has found.

By Mia Malan
When the sorrow doesn’t end: Could chronic grief be a medical condition?
Article
/ 13 January 2017

When the sorrow doesn’t end: Could chronic grief be a medical condition?

The pain of bereavement is supposed to ease with time. When it doesn’t, psychiatrists call it ‘complicated grief’ and it can be treated.

By Staff Reporter
Viruses, vaccines and superbugs: The biggest health stories of 2016
Article
/ 22 December 2016

Viruses, vaccines and superbugs: The biggest health stories of 2016

This year wasn’t pretty but from its ashes may rise important scientific advances that could change the course of history.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
Should you be keeping Santa’s secret from the kids?
Article
/ 19 December 2016

Should you be keeping Santa’s secret from the kids?

Warning, this article contains sensitive details about Father Christmas. Kids, look away.

By Pontsho Pilane
Africa’s oldest psychiatric hospital a stark reminder of war and a forgotten people
Article
/ 22 November 2016

Africa’s oldest psychiatric hospital a stark reminder of war and a forgotten people

After Sierra Leone’s civil war, money poured in for mental health services. But a decade later, there’s little left to help Ebola’s victims.

By Ryan Lenora Brown
Health MEC: ‘Esidimeni wasn’t my responsibility’
Podcasts
/ 9 November 2016

Health MEC: ‘Esidimeni wasn’t my responsibility’

The former Gauteng health MEC says it wasn’t her job to visit organisations prior to transferring state patients into their care.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez and Dylan Bush
The promise and peril of ditching South Africa’s psychiatric hospitals
Article
/ 9 November 2016

The promise and peril of ditching South Africa’s psychiatric hospitals

Community mentalhealth care can be better for patients and health systems if it’s done right.
Find out how one organisation is making it work.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
[EXCLUSIVE] Gauteng health MEC: Court threats fly over patient deaths
Article
/ 7 November 2016

[EXCLUSIVE] Gauteng health MEC: Court threats fly over patient deaths

Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu breaks her silence over the department’s deadly decision to transfer psychiatric patients.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
Gauteng mental health services: ‘They treated him like you don’t even treat a dog’
Article
/ 4 November 2016

Gauteng mental health services: ‘They treated him like you don’t even treat a dog’

A decision by the Gauteng department of health has left at least 36 dead but has the scandal lifted the lid on the horrors of mental healthcare?

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
We need ‘everything is not OK’ spaces
Article
/ 14 October 2016

We need ‘everything is not OK’ spaces

Iimbali is a space for stories and other narrative-based social analysis.

By Milisuthando Bongela
Family of dead Gauteng psychiatric patient given the runaround by red tape
Article
/ 7 October 2016

Family of dead Gauteng psychiatric patient given the runaround by red tape

Sizwe Hlatshwayo may be the 38th patient to die after being moved from state-funded hospital care. It took almost a month for his family to find out.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
Me and my meds: It’s a fraught friendship
Article
/ 4 October 2016

Me and my meds: It’s a fraught friendship

Society has a skewed view that healthy people don’t take medicine but rising rates of chronic illness may call for a re-think of that perception

By Amy Pieterse
Mental shift: Yoga makes its way behind the walls of South African prisons
Article
/ 26 September 2016

Mental shift: Yoga makes its way behind the walls of South African prisons

It’s World Yoga Day. Mindfulness has seen a resurgence in popularity and is slowly making its way behind the walls of prisons in South Africa.

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
The trauma caused by violent protests can be acute, but is largely ignored due to the less obvious and unintended consequences
Article
/ 24 September 2016

The trauma caused by violent protests can be acute, but is largely ignored due to the less obvious and unintended consequences

There is not a significant amount of empirical research data that shows the link between violent protest and emotional trauma.

By Staff Reporter
Life Esidimeni patient deaths are a wake up call that came too late
Article
/ 23 September 2016

Life Esidimeni patient deaths are a wake up call that came too late

The callous disregard shown at many levels for the wellbeing of vulnerable people proved fatal.

By Staff Reporter
On our ill-conceived normality: An ode to ‘the mad ones’​
Article
/ 22 September 2016

On our ill-conceived normality: An ode to ‘the mad ones’​

In the words of Edgar Allan Poe: “Men have called me mad, but the question is not settled whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence …

By Iman Rappetti
Growing up with a mother who has schizophrenia is tough on a child
Article
/ 20 September 2016

Growing up with a mother who has schizophrenia is tough on a child

When a parent is diagnosed with a mental illness, the chances of emotional support are decreased and the risk of family discord is high.

By Ina Skosana
​Psychologists can’t practice in a vacuum, ignoring SA’s social conditions and rights
Article
/ 12 September 2016

​Psychologists can’t practice in a vacuum, ignoring SA’s social conditions and rights

Professionals are being asked to look critically at the discipline’s ability to respond to South Africa’s context.

By Juan Nel
​The mentally ill are not alone in Kenya
Article
/ 16 June 2016

​The mentally ill are not alone in Kenya

There are too few psychiatrists, so a foundation is using a Canadian model to rehabilitate people.

By Staff Reporter
8 things you should never say to a depressed person
Article
/ 2 June 2016

8 things you should never say to a depressed person

Clinical depression is tough to experience and understand. It consists of a wide variety of mood disorders, which impact lives differently.

By Kiri Rupiah
‘Difficult Night’  is a compassionate take on mental illness
Article
/ 19 May 2016

‘Difficult Night’ is a compassionate take on mental illness

The book is an entry to the world of a psychiatric patient on the effects of her medication, the flashbacks and the loneliness.

By Kwanele Sosibo
← Older posts
Newer posts →

MAIL & GUARDIAN

ABOUT

About
Contact
Advertise

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscribe
Newsletters

FOLLOW

WhatsApp Channel
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Instagram
LinkedIn
TikTok
Threads

FLAGSHIP EVENTS

200 Young South Africans
Power Of Women
Greening The Future

LEGAL & CORRECTIONS

Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Ethics & Social Media Policy

RESOURCES

Mail & Guardian Careers
Property for sale


Mail & Guardian

© 2025 The Mail & Guardian. All rights reserved.

  • Login
  • Register
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
body::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 7px; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-track { border-radius: 10px; background: #f0f0f0; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { border-radius: 50px; background: #dfdbdb }