MHM Magazine

46 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2022 | Issue 6 MHM MY CHALLENGE TO YOU: LET’S SCALE UP OUR ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH WALK ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA If you’re reading this – be warned – there is a challenge for you at the end of this article! Our seventh annual KwaZulu-Natal Mental Health Advocacy Walk took place in Durban on October 9, a day ahead of World Mental Health Day, to help destigmatise mental illness and create a space for people to talk openly about their mental health. When we began this initiative in 2016, Professor Suvira Ramlall and I wanted to create a flagship event for mental health in our home province of KZN. The sunny Durban beachfront was the obvious choice of venue, and the amphitheatre off Snell Parade provided a scenic green space for our wellness fair. The short 5kmwalk fromNorth beach to South beach, with hundreds of placard-holding activists, has certainly been succeeding in its mission. The number of attendees has grown from a few dozen in 2016, to over 900, despite our online hiatus in 2020 and 2021. I am pretty sure that our walk is now the largest, free, community mental health gathering in South Africa. This year, some of our wellness exhibitors included Raidah Gangat, a clinical psychologist in private practice; Danielle Reynolds, who started a new psychotherapy app called Upright; Keith Ruthanum from the KZN Provincial Mental Health Directorate; Nerena Ramith from Ekuhlengeni Psychiatric Hospital; and Varsha Pillay fromMondia Health Umhlanga, amongst many others. We also partnered with the Durban Book Fair (reading is, after all, an excellent example of mindfulness, cognitive stimulation, and relaxation – three ingredients for good mental health). As usual, there was Zumba, dancing, yoga, and music, adding energy and hype to our morning. My former colleague, Blanche Moila, an 18-time Comrades runner and retired nurse, said that she joined the walk because there’s still a stigma against mental illness even though “it can effect anyone, whether you’re a professional, a labourer, whether you’re rich or you’re poor.” Blanche has always been our unofficial mascot for the walk – and did us the honour of leading the walk again this year. Dr Sandile Kubheka, who was once the youngest doctor to qualify from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), is now a registrar at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. He said that the walk was a stimulating and exciting morning, reminding him that “taking care of ourselves is crucially important.” Indeed, research consistently shows that a 20-minute walk every day can be simple but effective act of self-care, for our mind and body. According to the World Health Organisation’s Global Health Estimates Suicide, published in 2019, South Africa has the third- highest suicide rate of any African country (almost 14 000 suicides were reported in South Africa in 2019 alone, with over 10 000 of those deaths being men). There is, therefore, much work to be done in reducing the burden of mental distress and illness in this country. Together with the pandemic, flooding, looting, and ongoing service delivery failures, people in KZN are trying hard to recover from an especially traumatic period. How does a walk make a difference in the face of such seemingly insurmountable problems? Ultimately, this more than just a walk. Events like these build social capital in our communities, makes it easier for people to ask for help when they are in distress or suicidal, promotes healthy living, and inspires hope and optimism that the future will indeed be brighter. The theme for World Mental Day 2022 was “Making mental health and well-being a global priority for all”. This is fairly ambitious agenda. How can we action this theme on a larger scale? I have an idea. Let’s create mental health walks across this country. If you’re reading this, my challenge to is to help scale up our event and host a walk in your home town. Let’s have a mental health walk in all nine provinces for October 2023! It’s possible. Let’s make it happen. Together we can do more! #StepUpSouthAfricaa Suntosh R. Pillay is a clinical psychologist in the public sector in Durban, and co-founder of the KZN Mental Health Advocacy Group that started the annual walk. If you are keen to take up his challenge, email him on suntoshpillay@gmaill.com Suntosh R. Pillay Clinical Psychologist Durban