​The Gauteng Department of Social Development officials at Desmond Tutu Child & Youth Care Centre commemorated the World Mental Health Day under the theme “Making mental for all reality”, with the aim to create awareness on issues related to mental health a global priority.
The Head of Institution, Nompumelelo Luthuli, said she was impressed with the attendance and participation by the officials.

“More than fifty officials attended the event with the aim of raising mental health awareness since this illness is everyone’s business. We are happy because this is a very important day where we can share relevant information which will assist them. We distributed pamphlets which have contact details,” says Luthuli.

“However, most people with mental health problem are still scared to disclose because of being stigmatized by the people who are close to them. As a department we make sure that we refer them to institutions such as Care Ways and Wellness Programmes to share their problems with the professionals who will not judge them,” she added

An official who asked not to be named said she was impressed by the Psychologist who was able to assists her with the information.

“Now I know where to go instead of talking to someone who will later talk about my problems to other people. We appreciate what the department is doing for us. We would like to have more awareness programmes that will rescue us,” he says.