The month of October is declared Mental Health Awareness Month with the objective of not only educating the public about mental health but also reducing the stigma and discrimination that people with mental illness challenges are often subjected to.

Many people are affected by mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and other ailments within our families and communities.

Kaizer Chiefs Doctor, Jerome Mampane says mental health is a very important issue in life and in any sporting environment. He believes there is still a significant stigma attached to it and we need to keep educating our societies about this condition.

“It’s about how you project yourself to the outside world. Mental health speaks to how you perform and what you bring to work or training as an athlete. Mental health affects many of us on a daily basis,” says Dr Mampane.

There are many misconceptions and myths about mental health. Some include believing that all people with mental illnesses are crazy; that there is no treatment for mental health; that people with mental health problems are violent and many other misinformed stigmas.

“it’s true there are many misconceptions out there,” confirms Dr Mampane. “They also include the misconception that men do not cry. Society has taught men to bottle up their emotions and not to express themselves, because they will seem weak. It’s also about how we view people who suffer from mental illness that makes it hard for people to talk about it,” Dr Mampane adds.

Raising mental health awareness can help you to understand your symptoms, find professional treatment, and, perhaps most importantly, break the mental health stigma that leaves so many people suffering in secret.

“This affects young people in school especially during exams, adults in their workplaces and in the relationship space,” adds Dr Mampane. “For our sporting environment, I always say that It’s important to have a psychologist or a sport psychologist to deal with some of the issues faced by players. Unfortunately, not many sports teams make use of sport psychologists and it’s important to have them. It’s an area of growth because we really need to make an effort to ensure that we tackle this issue.”

“There are many remedies out there and one I also know is exercise,” says Dr Mampane as he concludes.

“Exercising has therapeutic elements and helps clear the mind. Where necessary, genuine help from psychologists and psychiatrists is required. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness and should be encouraged. A lot of education is important in families, so that it is treated as normal and tackled. We need to use months such as this one to educate families and society in general about the importance of dealing with mental health issues,” says Dr Mampane.

In a competitive environment such as professional, mental health awareness is also an important “learning area for us who deal with athletes”.

“Sometimes they are not selected, some have long-term injuries and it affects players’ mental well-being,” says Dr Mampane.