Mental health celebrated at Florida Lake

To celebrate Mental Health Month a mental health sport day was held at Florida Lake on 29 October.

The annual event, now in its fourth year, was organised by Chief Occupational Therapist (OT) of the Johannesburg Metro, Lauren Graham Parker. Seven non-profit organisations (NPOs) that take care of people with severe mental disorders brought their patients to take part in the fun activities. These NPOs were Thandanani House, Ebenhezer House, Siyanbonga Life Skills Centre, Shiwela Life Skills Centre, Cordonia Facility, Talisman Foundation and Hillbrow Team.

The aim of the day was to have fun and celebrate mental health rather than magnifying the stigma surrounding mental disorders. Activities included towel volleyball, water balloon toss, pin the tail on the donkey and tennis volleyball. There was also a rehabilitation team from the Johannesburg Metro district in attendance to help with speech therapy, physiotherapy and to educate participants on lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and stress. GP Ambulance Services supplied their services on the day free of charge.

“These adults suffer from severe psychiatric disorders ranging from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder and depend on NPOs and state clinics for treatment and medication,” says Margi King of Thandanani House. “The stigma surrounding these people severely affects their chances to lead functional lives and they often are marginalised. It is for example nearly impossible for them to find employment although they are perfectly capable. You will find that employers will rather employ a person with a physical disability than one with a mental disorder,” says King.