indwe magazine – Dec 2005

Light in the Darkness
Zane Wilson – Founder of SADAG
This scenario is typical for sufferers from panic disorder. Insidiously, the disease spreads its hold on the individual. First it might be the supermarket, then it might be a lift and after that, who knows, maybe the car or your office. Pretty soon your world threatens to shrink into nothingness as you try desperately to avoid all the places that seem to induce the uncontrollable, unpredictable, irrational but crushing fear.
If this seems all too familiar to you, know that you are not alone. It is, amongst others, for people exactly like you that Zane Wilson founded the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG). The South African Depression and Anxiety Group is Africa’s largest and most recognised mental health initiative. As the nation’s leading advocacy and educational voice on mental health, SADAG has been tirelessly committed to improving the well-being of thousands of South Africans.
“When we first started we only dealt with panic disorder,” Zane remembers. “After we had been going for about eighteen months, we realised that there was nothing available for depression and that is really, in a way, the greater problem. Up to 17% of all South Africans will suffer from depression at some time during their lives. That is almost one in five.”
Zane responded to the call and spread the net of support to include, first sufferers of depression, and now also sufferers of other mental illnesses. “I started the group working from one room in my house. The phone rang day and night,” Zane tells me. “Ten years later, we are the biggest in the southern hemisphere. Now we have 60 counsellors. We have over 40,000 members and deal with hundreds of calls every day. The organisation also now deals with all mental illnesses. We deal with depression, panic, social phobia, bipolar... and we work nationally.”
Free, confidential and supportive telephonic counselling is a fundamental part of SADAG’s work. Building on this service, specific attention is given to a massive media campaign to destigmatise mental illness, educate the public about mental health and to encourage individuals to come forward for treatment. SADAG also runs 140 support groups around the country and has initiated rural development projects in communities where there are little or no mental health care services available.
“We have a shortage of psychiatrists in South Africa,” she explains. “Take for example, the Northwest province – there are 3.9 million people and there is one psychiatrist. That is not exactly a good ratio. We have to ask ourselves what else we can do to help the people in those areas. And what happens to all those people who do not have a medical aid?”
Zane emphasises that men in particular are still slow to seek the help they need. “There is still a stigma attached to mental health, both in the workplace as well as in the family. It is important, particularly for men who tend not to do so, to seek help earlier,” she says. ”We have to break down the barriers. If you had diabetes or asthma, you would seek treatment. You would see someone. There is still a need for people to understand that depression, for instance, is a real illness and there is real treatment available for it.”
The effects of mental illness are at least as debilitating as any physical illness and potentially life-threatening. Nor is it just the individual who is affected. Zane explains: “If, for example, a man suffers from depression, it is going to affect his work performance. Left untreated this, in turn, can lead to him being fired. This means that he would probably lose his medical aid benefits, which affects the whole family. They might not be able to afford their house anymore and may need to move into cheaper accommodation. Their partner may leave as a result of this burden...”
Mental illnesses, and depression and anxiety in particular, are incredibly isolating diseases. Help is often difficult to find. Friends and family may find it difficult to understand. Even the family doctor cannot always help as diagnosis is sometimes difficult and packed schedules leave little time for real compassion. The patient often has difficulty getting to grips with his or her own symptoms, viewing these as signs of weakness rather than as symptoms of a real illness. Thus they retreat even further into their own darkness – untreated, alone, often afraid, and with despair as their only companion.
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group fills this void. The lines are manned by trained volunteer counsellors, often from the helping professions. Often these volunteers have known the despair of mental illness themselves, have sought help, have recovered and now offer their skills and empathy in service of others. They are as far as a phone call away.

FIVE lucky readers stand a chance to win a copy of the Celebrity Cookbook published by SADAG to raise funds. The cookbook is entitled Good Mood Food and includes recipes from celebrities such as Amy Kleinhans, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Baby Jake Matlala, Dali Tambo, Heinz Winkler, and many more. Each recipe is accompanied by a photo and motivational message from the celebrity. The book retails for R95-00 at all major bookstores. It makes the perfect Christmas Present. You can also order the book from SADAG, phone (011) 783-1474. To win a copy, SMS the word SAX followed by the word FOOD to 35131. (Cost per SMS is R3. Competition closes 31 December 2005)
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