Given where we are as a nation, it certainly is not unreasonable to assume a pessimistic outlook…that on the barometer of mental health, our collective state of mental health is shockingly poor. According to several authors and research findings, mental health had been identified as a key area of public health concern in South Africa and globally.If there’s any truism to the notion that “mental health has become a measure of the soul of [a] nation…then our country’s soul is in a decidedly bad place”.

These chillingly apt remarks are from a book titled ‘Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health’ by American author, Thomas Insel, published in 2022. Although its context is American, it cannot be lost on us that as South Africa, we find ourselves in an equally unenviable position of mental health decay. The South African College of Applied Psychology (2018) estimated that “pre-Covid, one in six South Africans suffered from anxiety, depression, or substance abuse disorders”. Stats from the World Health Organisation, paint an equally gloomy picture, that “South Africa experienced a more than 36.4% increase in anxiety disorder prevalence during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, in addition to “more than 38.7% increase in the prevalence of major depressive disorders over the same period.”

The decline in our country’s socio-economic status, high unemployed – specifically impacting our youth, the history of our collective trauma – in varying degrees, among other, confirm the dangerously poor state of our mental health as a nation. Appreciating that health is wealth, as “Heal SA Together”, we are on a deliberate mission to nurture a more resilient, compassionate, and mentally fit nation. Through our triple-A approach, namely Acceptability, Access, and Affordability, our aim is to improve South Africans’ mental health through the creation of an enabled environment for accessible quality care, by overcoming obstacles associated with these three pillars.

As a registered national, not for profit, non-governmental organisation, we actively collaborate with individuals, community, government, and private sector stakeholders who share our vision of a thriving South Africa. At the core to our partnerships, is the need and passion to achieve the highest possible level of mental health for all South Africans. The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, article 16 – affirming that “every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health”, has inspired Heal SA’s commitment to contribute to the prioritisation of the elimination of health disparities that impact women and youth by providing mental wellness that is culturally relevant, simple, and centred on the lived experiences of our people. Let us “Heal SA”!