MHM Magazine

Issue 5 | 2022 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 13 MHM One in seven South Africans will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime, placing them at high risk of developing acute stress disorder which can become a more serious, long- term mental illness if untreated. The country’s high rates of crime, road accidents, and interpersonal violence, as well as highly public violent events such as the July 2021 unrest and looting in KZN and Gauteng, heighten the risk for South Africans of developing acute stress disorder, according to SA Society of Psychiatrists spokesperson Dr Gagu Matsebula. Acute stress disorder affects up to 20% of people who experience or witness traumatic events such as death, serious injury, or physical or sexual violence, and about half of those will go on to develop post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ACUTE STRESS DISORDER Linda Christensen South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) Press officer