MHM Magazine

6 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2023 | Issue 1 MHM When SADAG launched the “Your Life During Load Shedding Survey” in late January 2023, many South Africans wanted practical, technical solutions to the power supply crisis, assuming that our inner worlds had little to offer by way of help. Load shedding was defined as the province of the engineer, and the ordinary person consequently had zero control over the crisis. The idea of little control has dangerous consequences, for it can remove more than our response agency, it can entirely eliminate us from the equation. Some of our survey respondents, such as Khelifwe, talked about power cuts as a state of suspended existence, a time of waiting until “life could start again”. "It [load shedding] has made me feel that I cease to exist, basically. My life feels it's at a standstill - what can I do? what must I do? I hate the feeling of pressure it puts on me… It throws [yo]u straight into the unknown when [yo]u already have SO MUCH to deal with” - Mara For others, like Mara, load shedding had the power to obliterate existence. As fears mount regarding a powerless future, South Africans may be tired of needing to be resilient in the face of this ongoing power supply deficit. Yet, this is a moment in time, where we can learn what the main triggers are and how to insulate ourselves against the shockwaves reverberating fromwithin the larger social system. While there is no doubt that general levels of distress increased across the survey sample (n=1836) upon Eskom’s announcement of long-term loadshedding, the reality is more complex. Load shedding, as a practice, contains several anxiety-laden shocks that impact our collective psyche and individual nervous systems. There is a load shedding anxiety cycle that started for 88% of people surveyed when they were notified of an increase in stages. Anxiety levels remained for some (54%) when the power did not go off as scheduled, and the cycle ended with anxiety levels peaking due to power not being restored on time (92%). The cycle recommenced once new stages of load-shedding were communicated. There are at least two anxiety-inducing shocks at each stage of this cycle, with notifications, and the tardy restoration of power after scheduled outages at the heart of the matter. Long unscheduled power outages produced another anxiety shock, even when not associated with load shedding for 90% of the sample. What are these anxiety shocks doing to our mental health? The 10% of people who were able to attain some independence from the national power grid, through the installation of a solar power system, were clearly the least distressed grouping, with many others struggling with high levels of material, mental and social suffering. With 4 in 10 reporting depression and 6 in 10 owning to diagnostic symptoms of anxiety, the entire sample seemed Dr Bronwyn Dworzanowski-Venter Senior Research Associate Faculty of Humanities, UJ bjd2006@gmail.com GOING PSYCHO-SOLAR AND INSULATING OURSELVES AGAINST ANXIETY SHOCKS INSIGHTS FROM SADAG’S “YOUR LIFE DURING LOAD SHEDDING SURVEY” (2023)