Bipolar Self-Screening: 7 Signs of Mania and Depression
7 signs you’d wish you could’ve looked out for …
Tag Archives: mental illness in south Africa
ECT Update
ECT 4 – while I was in the gurney waiting to be wheeled to theatre, a patient slapped my face (not very hard). I said to a nurse, “I don’t […]
Bipolar, We’re Calling YOU Out!
Do you live with bipolar disorder in South Africa? Are you diagnosed with the illness or are you a supporter? Are you struggling to keep your head above water? Or […]
Another Electroconvulsive Therapy Update
I’ve had three sessions of ECT so far, nine to go. Apparently I’m having seizures the way I’m supposed to, I haven’t experienced anything more than very temporary, very short […]
I Finally Had ECT
After the long wait for ECT, actually having it was, of course, utterly anticlimactic. I had to leave home at 04h30 to be in the ward by 06h00, by that […]
Further adventures in the public mental healthcare sector
I still haven’t had ECT. I haven’t had it because the head anaesthetist at the hospital won’t do the general anaesthetic for it, because he considers it barbaric. He goes […]
I’m going to have electroconvulsive therapy
The first wait was to see shrink two, who gave me the paperwork to go and wait at three more departments, x-ray, ecg and pharmacy. I have a date for […]
CBT and Me
My whole soul rebels against structured things, always. I think I spent the first two months “forgetting” to do various cognitive behavioural therapy homework assignments. The week she finally said, […]
Submission: THE GIFT OF EMPOWERMENT: A LOVE STORY- Jocelyn Fryer
Ok, so it’s not a Wednesday but I don’t always save appreciation for one day alone… Today I would like to thank an artist and friend for his contribution to […]
And yet another ward 13 Wednesday
Outside the main pedestrian turnstile entrance, there are minibus taxis and touts, hawkers selling fresh fruit, vetkoek, fried chicken and so on. From time to time school buses spew forth […]
Our Lived Experience 