As EPA we had our 2nd Ethics Workshop which was aimed to introduce and review basic concepts around ethical Psychological Practice as well as adressing ethical challenges emerging within the discipline of psychology Eswatini.
Thank you to everyone who attended and for sharing your valuable insights and feedback. We appreciate your contributions and hope that you found the event to be a valuable learning experience.
On the 4th of June 2022, EPA facilitated a fundraising event #walkingformentalhealth. Starting and end point was Legends Backpacker Lodge and the trail lead to Mantenga Falls and back – it was an easy trail to accommodate participants’ of all ages and fitness levels. The Walkers were also lead by a Swazi Trail Tour Guide. The walk was followed by a raffle draw, a brief introduction of EPA and its members, as well as a brief talk on the importance of mental health and types of coping mechanisms.
Prizes were mainly centered around wellness:
Alexander, Dinah & Dlamini, Nontobeko. (2016). The career meaning making of a single high school learner living with a sibling with a learning disorder A Systems Theory Framework for career development. South African Journal of Higher Education. 26. 10.20853/26-4-195.
Visit the following link for the full article: www.researchgate.net/view
Sexual harassment is not only a pervasive concern in many institutions of higher learning but more recently has come under the spotlight in critical discussions of academic and gender citizenship within institutional contexts in South Africa. Recently, as part of the institutional response to recent incidences of sexual harassment, a new and independent Sexual Harassment Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand was formed. However, institutional responses and strengthening of sexual harassment policies can only go so far in addressing the problem of gender violence within higher education contexts. A more concerted effort is needed that engages and destabilises the ‘common-sense’ and normalised cultures of gender and identity that are inherent in everyday interactions between gendered beings. This normalised culture is functional in informing how staff and students within tertiary institutions both interpret and respond to incidences of sexual harassment. We present critical analyses of focus group interviews conducted with different groups of male and female students and support staff at the University. The analysis highlights the role and influence of taken-for-granted assumptions of gender, identity and power that are functional in promoting a ‘culture of violence’ within this context. In interrogating problematic assumptions and their normalisation we point to the need for interventions which expose their role and influence so that more effective institutional interventions can be realised. We argue that there is a need for interventions, to take cognisance of and actively engage the deeply entrenched beliefs concerning relations of gender. These beliefs influence how practices and relations of sexual harassment are both perceived as well as how they are challenged.
Visit the following link for the full article: www.researchgate.net/view
Gogo: “Yemntfwanami, dimoni lini lona lelelenta sive sitibulale, baphela bantfwabetfu?”
This was asked by a seventy-something-year-old gogo, who is a guardian. Ngavele ngasho ngatsi ngivelelwe! I had no idea what to say. Phela tsine lentfo bebasifundzisa ngesingisi letikolweni. So the language about depression, lelidimoni, as she unwittingly referred to it, was never in the syllabus. Sikhumbule kutsi depression is just one of the contributing factors towards suicide. Not all suicidal people are depressed and not all depressed people are suicidal. Sengitsini mine nyalo lana kugogo lekumele abe yi-support system for someone with lelidimoni? How do I communicate to gogo that we do not view this as lidimoni, but a prevalent mental health condition which, at its worse, yenta kutibulala kube yintfo longayikhetsa? Ngilekeleleni! (kwasho leya ngoma, yaloya muntfu. Niyayati kenine).
Me: “Tinengi letizantfu gogo. Kufaka ekhatsi kukhatsateka kakhulu emoyeni, engcodvweni nasemtimbeni nje. Uma ungati ungatsi lomtfwana ungenwa buvila, sowuvilapha ngisho kudla nekutigeza. Usho impela utsi ngumhlolo wakho, awumati anjena.” While I was trying to explain all this, the worthlessness, general stressors te-life, loss of energy, appetite and behavioural changes, gogo interjected with tears. She began to sob while she expressed guilt about shouting at her grandchild thinking it was all mere laziness nekuba se-stage-jini (oh but the effort I put into typing this word to sound like this – kube ngafundza ngabe ngitsi to capture the homophone – sengiyasho nje).
Gogo: Bengitsi sowuganile lo, utikhandza sekamdzala lakhaya. Bengingati yemntfwanami kutsi kugula konkhe loku. Manje akangitjeli ngani kutsi uyagula? Ukhala nje ngekungalali ebusuku, ngiyabona kenami sowahlala landlini, ulala emini shengatsi umitsi – ngike ngamsola phela.
She managed to piece this narrative together through sobs and wet tissues. To observe the depth of care and love she had for her grandchild was one of the most beautifulestest (I know, all my former English teachers (or is it teachers of English) are cringing at this millennially inspired, non-existent superlative. Sorry, ngibhalile nje) emotional spaces I was privileged to witness. So we continued with gogo. I attempted to explain the biological intricacies of depression such as chemical changes; I swear at some point I said ‘tinswayi nema juice emtimba’ (Yes, I know. The universe heard it too and I can never take it back). She nodded, she questioned, she shared misinformation, we corrected, and we progressed. Gogo became vulnerable. She allowed herself to feel every emotion, with every memory, as she shared traumatic stories. Tasindza tindzaba, ngisho indlovu beyitawusindwva ngulomboko lona. Sakhuluma na gogo about her losses. Sakhuluma about her worries. Sakhuluma about her multiple traumas spanning back decades. Sakhuluma bo nama grizza! And yes, it became a therapy session. Esikhaleni nje (kwasho i-youth). During this psycho-educational exchange, gogo began to see herself kuletintfo besitikhuluma. Wakhumbula a time lapho abeva ngatsi impilo iphelile naSimakadze umfulatsele. This was at times when she experienced major stressors njengekushonelwa which included siblings, a husband and children. It was in her self-reflection, makatibona kuleticatfulo temtukulu wakhe, that she could sincerely connect with lobumatima lobuhambisana nalokuphatseka kwemtukulu.
Gogo: Uyati bengingati kutsi ngibophe emafindvo langaka langekhatsi. Ncesi kukukhalela yemntfwanami. (Magrizza uttered these words as we concluded. Growth in self-awareness is always a welcome outcome – like that ‘Incontact’ SMS, always welcome).It is often said that trauma is generational and the trauma transmission happens in all the spaces we occupy. A safe space allows you to safely explore those traumas by telling your story. Nabasho laba baka narrative therapy batsi letimphilo tetfu tisangwanekwane, ngesilungu kutsiwa ‘we live storied lives’. So lelitfuba to tell your story, to be heard, to be felt, kufaka sandla ekutseni silincobe ‘lelidimoni’ lakhala ngalo gogo.
What I learned, Dear Reader: Some people need their pain to be validated in a safe space, so they can allow themselves to truly connect with the pain of others.
Disclaimer: Sifiso Shabangu writes in his personal capacity as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice.
This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye.
The economic consequences of the pandemic are already being felt, as companies let staff go in an effort to save their businesses, or indeed shut down completely.
Given past experience of emergencies, it is expected that the need for mental health and psychosocial support will substantially increase in the coming months and years. Investment in mental health programmes at the national and international levels, which have already suffered from years of chronic underfunding, is now more important than it has ever been.
This is why the goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign is increased investment in mental health.
Depression is a mental health condition. This mood disorder can take many forms and symptoms can differ from person to person. No two people’s experiences are exactly the same. It can affect your overall well-being, relationships, and your physical health. Untreated depression can last for months, years, or a lifetime. It can seriously worsen over time.
Seeking treatment can not only stop the progression of the condition but can result in improvements within a few weeks.
As always, prevention, early detection, and the right treatment is the key to recovery
