Men & Mental Health

PROFILE

Mr Elvis Koketso Mashaba is a qualified Educational Psychologist registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. He is currently enrolled for PhD studies with the University of South Africa.He has over 15 years work experience in the education sector and student support.. He enjoys working with the youth and young males and has a passion for mental health. He focuses on people’s assets, strengths, and resilience to assist them in making life decisions.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
University of Pretoria – Master of Education (Educational Psychology) – MEd (Psych)
University of South Africa – Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
University of South Africa – Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Health Professions Council of South Africa:
PS 0149365
Board of Health Care Funders:
Pr No 0974846

Mr Elvis Koketso Mashaba

Educational Psychologist

PROFILE

Mr Daniel Sello Ramollo is a qualified Educational Psychologist registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. He has over 18 years of experience, working in the education sector in both leaner teaching and student support. He is currently working on his PhD that focuses on young men and their coping strategies. He is passionate about mental health and enjoys working and developing young people into resilient individuals.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
University of Pretoria – Master of Education (Educational Psychology) – MEd (Psych)
University of South Africa – Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Vista University – Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Vista University – Higher Diploma in Education

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Health Professions Council of South Africa:
PS 0144622
Board of Health Care Funders:
Pr No 1017446

Mr Daniel Sello Ramollo

Educational Psychologist

1. INTRODUCTION

Mental health in men remains an unspoken phenomenon. Men continue to experience a myriad of life challenges that are uncommunicated, unexpressed (at least not positively), and that impact on their life in general. The general trends and socialization patterns in men are that emotional restraint is viewed positively, men are encouraged to “contain” their emotions and restrain self-expression when they experience emotional or a psychological challenge. In African culture a man is gauged by his physical prowess and it is for this reason that men are inclined to demonstrate masculinity by becoming less emotional.

In times of emotional and psychological challenges, some poor coping mechanism are adopted. They include self-isolation, and even self-destructive behaviour such as substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, abuse of women and children, and eventually suicide. The recent spike of suicide in men demonstrates the underlying emotional and psychological challenges faced by men for which very little psychological support is provided.

The report by South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) revealed that South Africa record the third-highest suicide rate in all African countries. https://allafrica.com/stories/202109170759.html
SADAG also indicated that there are 23 daily reported cases of suicide and 230 serious attempts. (South African Depression and Anxiety Group (sadag.org) )
In June 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published their Global Health Estimates Suicide worldwide. The report indicated that 13,774 suicides were reported in South Africa in 2019 and of these cases of suicides reported, 10,861 were men and 2,913 were women. These stats did not include the number of suicide attempts within the country. Furthermore, SADAG stated that the pandemic has caused an influx on daily calls that rose from 600 to 2200 calls a day since September 2021. This is an increase of 40%, and it raises serious mental health concerns in South Africa.
(https://mg.co.za/opinion/2021-10-05-suicide-crisis-soars-in-south-africa/).

It was after considering the above-mentioned factors that this initiative was taken to make available the mental health support services for men and to promote seeking help as a healthy approach to dealing with mental health issues in our communities. Below is a list aims that guide this initiative, followed by the list of objectives that we aim to achieve and finally the conclusion is provided.

2. AIM

2.1. Men and Mental Health is a program focusing on men and their mental wellbeing.

2.2. Men and Mental Health is committed towards advocating for psychological, emotional, intellectual, and psychosocial wellbeing for men.

2.3. The program was established to advocate and raise awareness for mental health issues such as Depression, Suicide, Substance abuse, Gender Based Violence and Trauma/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other social and mental issues.

2.4. The aim to is promote and provide professional guidance for good mental health and wellbeing amongst South African men.

2.5. The main mandate of this program is to equip South African men with positive coping skills and tools to adjust to adversity and stressors.

2.6. The program consists of practitioners within mental, socio-emotional, and medical health field.

3. Objectives

3.1. To provide an opportunity for men to obtain skills and strategies to cope with psycho-emotional stressors within their daily lives.

3.2. To enhance and refine their existing coping strategies and provide other strategies.

3.3. To conduct workshops, webinars, and training for mental health to adjust to mental health matters.

3.4. To activate both internal and external protective resources.

3.5. Identify available and accessible support structures, e.g. SADAG, Sonke Gender Justice and Lifeline centre.

4. Process

4.1. The process involves a series of webinars, workshops, and trainings that focus on mental issues in men.

4.2. The facilitators will be invited to provide expertise and practical tools within their respective fields.

4.3. The facilitators will build capacity (Agency) in men, provide tools, skills, and techniques to positively deal with adversity and psychosocial issues.

5. Conclusion

It is our belief that if the safe space is created for men to express their emotions and psychological challenges the benefits of this initiative will expand to the younger generation where adult males will share their acquired knowledge and skills with their children (specifically boy children) early in life. We hope that in so doing, they will reduce the risk of unhealthy coping strategies and suicide in men.

Some of the benefits of the mental health for men include healthy work/life balance, authentic happiness, positive subjective happiness, and positive outlook on life. This initiative strives to promote these benefits to men and encourage them to take the first step towards taking charge of their mental health.

MEN & MENTAL HEALTH

PROFILE

PROFILE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. AIM

3. Objectives

4. Process

5. Conclusion