SADAG is celebrating our fourth annual Support Group Awareness Week from the 22 – 28 January 2024. Our Support Group offering is very close to our hearts, as Support Groups were the core of where it all began for SADAG.
SADAG Founder and Director, Zane Wilson, following her own experience with years of undiagnosed panic disorder, realised how stigmatised Mental Illness was in South Africa and how little help and support was available to sufferers and loved ones. She decided to start a Support Group, which then became what is now known as the “The South African Depression and Anxiety Group”. Fast forward 30 years, and now SADAG proudly hosts over 170 Free Support Groups nationwide.
During Support Group Awareness Week, we aim to create more public awareness about these much-needed free Mental Health aftercare resources and their positive impact on their members and communities.
SADAG Founder Zane Wilson explains, “This year’s focus is on creating awareness, breaking down stigma and educating the public that people living with Mental Illness are so much more than their diagnosis, and more importantly that their diagnosis doesn’t define who they are and what they are capable of.”
Our #MoreThanMyDiagnosis Campaign showcases some of our phenomenal Support Group Leaders living with Mental Illnesses, who bravely put their faces to their names to Break the Stigma surrounding Mental Health. Showcasing interesting facts about them, what they have achieved, their quirks, likes and dislikes, and their diagnosis reinforces the idea that people are more than just their diagnosis.
Sharing experiences enables us to give each other mutual support, normalise our experiences and collect practical information and coping methods. Group members offer each other emotional and practical support and reduce the sense of isolation that can be associated with Mental Illness and emotional struggles,” says SADAG Project Manager Krystle Kemp.
SADAG has many different Support Groups, including groups for Depression, Anxiety, Postnatal Depression, Family members and loved ones of children with ADHD, Bipolar Disorder and Support Groups for Loved ones living with a Mental Illness…#MoreThanMyDiagnosis
|
|
|
|
|
|
