- Self-harming is how many teens cope with emotional pain. From cutting to burning, it’s a complex cry for help, says psychiatrist Danella Eliasov.
- Zandile Simelane tells us how she’s found healthier ways to cope since cutting herself as a teenager after the death of her mother.
- Over two-thirds of South Africa’s youth struggle with their mental health, but many are too scared to ask for help, or simply cannot access under-funded services.
- Psychologist Bomikazi Lupindo says mental health problems are often linked to poverty and violence.
- But there’s hope. Bhekisisa’s Health Beat team visits the organisation Fight With Insight, which helps teens in Johannesburg overcome self-harm and build coping skills.
In today’s newsletter, our Health Beat team looks at the mental health issues faced by young South Africans. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Go to our YouTube channel to catch up on our other episodes of Health Beat.
Anna-Maria van Niekerk is Bhekisisa’s news editor. She joined the centre after six years as the managing editor of the investigative television show, Carte Blanche. Anna-Maria has an extensive career in in-depth health and human rights reporting and has been named both the Vodacom Journalist (2002) and Discovery Health Journalist of the Year (2010) for exposés on the selling of human body parts for muti in Limpopo and the devastating consequences of HIV denialism.
Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
Jessica Pitchford is Bhekisisa's TV and multimedia editor. She's been a journalist since the early nineties and has reported on some pivotal events in South Africa’s political history, such as the country’s transition to democracy and the work of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
