Psychology

South Africa is facing a national crisis over the ever increasing number of people - mainly youngsters - dependent on drugs and alcohol.

The school ground has become the primary place for drug sales as an increasing number of young people across the country become drug users.

March is Intellectual Disability Awareness month. The South African Federation for Mental Health, of which Cape Mental Health is an affiliate, will embark on an awareness campaign highlighting the Human Rights of people with Intellectual Disability. Intellectual Disability is caused by brain damage or poor brain development, which causes people to learn and to develop slower than others.

Durban should brace itself for the arrival of Tik (crystal meth), a highly addictive drug plaguing the Western Cape, the Medical Research Council has warned.

Geneva/London - One in six women worldwide suffers domestic violence - some battered during pregnancy - yet many remain silent about the assaults, according to the World Health Organisation.

One in five South Africans suffer from a mental disorder severe enough to affect their lives significantly, the Medical Research Council has revealed. October is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental illness is wide-spread and often undiagnosed, with the World Health Organisation estimating that 450-million people worldwide suffer mental illness.

AS cities and towns struggle to cope with drug abuse, a revised national drug master plan aims to intensify interventions and reduce the supply and consumption of drugs.

Smoking cannabis virtually doubles the risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, researchers say.

In a regularly flighted television advert in South Africa, a black screen appears with the words: Good Idea - get some rest. A young girl sleeping innocently then appears. The black screen emerges again with the message: Bad Idea - drinking before you do. Then the camera zooms out and reveals the young girl passed out on the pavement around the corner from a nightclub.