Cape Town celebrated ‘World Mental Health Day’ on October 10, 2024. The city Health Department is using the opportunity to put a spotlight on the stress that children and young people face, especially during exams and what can be done to help take the ‘A out of anxiety’.
Staff at the City of Cape Town Health Clinics are trained to screen for and manage common mental health conditions. The department also has three clinical psychologists who provides services for 15 facilities namely Albow Gardens, Bloekombos, Delft South, Dr. Ivan Toms, Gugulethu, Ikhwezi, Fish Hoek, Kuyasa, Masiphumelele, Muizenberg, Phumlani, Matthew Goniwe, Wallacedene, Wesbank and Langa.
As the year end exams are looming, expectations and other demands often cause significant stress, anxiety and sometimes tension in the household and can affect learners and also their loved ones.
Whereas, much of the focus will on the matric exams, which is important to consider that stress can affect the learning of the learners at any age and level of performance, not to mention those at tertiary level too.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services – Councillor Patricia Van der Ross said that the stress does not have an age limit and we need to realise that children are affected by it and their mental health is also getting affected. It is important that parents and loved ones should realise how crucial it is to support an encourage their children both physically and psychologically.
Parents need to make sure that the environment at home is conclusive to studying and that their child is eating properly and getting enough sleep. The weight of expectation can also place undue pressure on learners. So there is also a need to be mindful of the capabilities of the child and emphasise them in doing their best instead of demanding perfect scores.
However, it is also important to study and prepare adequately for exams, the balance needs to be maintained and short breaks should be encouraged too. Visiting City Health Clinics for regular check-up may help a lot.