Threads
HomeBhekisisa TVHealth Beat #6 | ‘Suddenly you become anxious and angry’: How loadshedding...

Health Beat #6 | ‘Suddenly you become anxious and angry’: How loadshedding impacts mental health

  • The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) used an online survey to find out how blackouts impact our state of mind.
  • The survey revealed loadshedding-related increases in anxiety, work-related stress, depression and suicidal thoughts among South Africans.
  • For the March edition of our television show, Health Beat, we travel to a chicken farmer in Nigel, southeast of Johannesburg, whose business was brought to its knees because of power cuts. Plus, Mia Malan speaks to Sadag’s Cassey Chambers and asks the psychologist, Tholinhlanhla Dlamini-Ngcoya, what we can do to keep our heads above water during this difficult time.

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.

Mohale Moloi worked at Bhekisisa as a television producer and health journalist from July 2021 to March 2024.

Yolanda Mdzeke is a multimedia reporter at Bhekisisa.

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.

Dylan Bush was a health journalist at Bhekisisa from February 2016 to September 2023.

RELATED ARTICLES
MORE FROM AUTHOR