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Experts have warned that adverse physical changes to the body may indicate untreated or undetected mental health issues.
A report by Rhiza Babuyile, a community health organisation, has revealed that neglecting mental health can impact one’s physical wellbeing and quality of life. According to the SA Depression and Anxiety Group, depression and anxiety disorders, which have previously mainly been associated with women in South Africa, have been receiving attention as affecting a significant portion of the male population.
A report by Rhiza Babuyile, a community health organisation, has revealed that neglecting mental health can impact one’s physical wellbeing and quality of life.
According to the SA Depression and Anxiety Group, depression and anxiety disorders, which have previously mainly been associated with women in South Africa, have been receiving attention as affecting a significant portion of the male population.
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Although women are statistically twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety disorders, one in eight men suffer from depression and one in five men suffer from an anxiety-related disorder.
The report says that while anxiety and depression are often regarded as “invisible diseases”, experts warn that and physical illness may indicate underlying mental health issues.
Katlego Assis, enterprise and supplier development and projects manager at Rhiza Babuyile, said mental illness is not “all in the mind”, but rather a physical manifestation of neurological and chemical imbalances.
She said:
According to the report, people genetically predisposed to mental disorders can be triggered by environmental factors such as financial stress, substance abuse and traumatic events.
“The stress, suffering, tragedy and illness experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant anxiety and depression, triggering otherwise healthy people into mental distress and often exacerbating existing mental health conditions,” it reads.
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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mental disorders are the leading cause of disability. However, not everyone with a mental illness is disabled. But some mental illnesses can become so severe that they lead to disability.
The WHO also says that mentally ill people have been known to spend one in six years living with a disability because of a mental illness.
“Disability as a result of mental illness can also shorten one’s lifespan, with people suffering from severe mental health conditions dying, on average, 10 to 20 years earlier than the general population, mostly due to preventable physical diseases,” the organisation says.
