“Are You Thinking With Your Brain or Your Hormones?” A Stellenbosch Conversation Becomes a Pathway to Care
Londiwe Buthelezi 7 October 2026 It began as a question set to music: Are you thinking with your brain or your hormones? On 17 September, that question filled a room at StellCare in Stellenbosch, and by the end of the week it had grown into something far more practical. Singer-songwriter, nurse and Stellenbosch University MNurs…
Mental Health as a Global Priority: How South Africa’s 2026 Policy Measures Up to the African Union’s Goals
Londiwe Buthelezi 7 October 2026 World Mental Health Month arrives this year at a genuine inflection point for the continent. In February 2026, the African Union’s 39th Ordinary Session of the Heads of State and Government formally endorsed the AU Common Position on NCDs, injuries, and mental health – a framework validated by member states…
Intrusive Thoughts: The Side of OCD People Rarely Understand
Stella Moll 5 October 2026 OCD is often imagined as a disorder of visible rituals: hands washed until they are raw, doors checked repeatedly, objects arranged with painstaking precision. But for many people, the most distressing part of obsessive-compulsive disorder leaves no outward trace at all. It can be a thought. A sudden image of…
Uma Ubumnyama Bobusika Bungapheli
Thembelihle Zwane 5 October 2026 Njalo ngobusika, uDkt Seleme Melato, udokotela wezengqondo osebenza eSandton, eGoli, ubona iphethini efanayo iza emnyango wakhe. Iziguli zifika zizichaza ngokuthi “zikhathele nje”. Zilala ngokwedlulele, zinenkinga yokugxila emsebenzini, futhi zihoxa ukuvakashela abangani. Kwabaningi, lokhu akuyona into engaphezu kokubanda nezinsuku ezimfushane zobusika. Kodwa kwiqembu elincane, isimo sengqondo asikhululeki – siyaqhubeka nokuba nzima….
Book Review: They All Said It Was Done For Love by Kgomotso Molefe
They All Said It Was Done For Love is not just a novel, it is a lifeline, a mirror, and a voice for the unheard. With the launch of her debut book on 5 June 2025, local author Kgomotso Molefe opens both her heart and her pages to the world, offering a powerful fictional story…
Ukukhathala Ngokwengqondo Nangomzimba
Thembelihle Zwane 30 September 2026 Ukugeza ngamanzi abandayo. Ukuphuza ijusi kuphela. I-yoga olwandle. Uma wake wazizwa ucindezelekile ngenxa yezindlela eziningi zokuhlala uphilile, awuwedwa – masibingelele ‘ukukhathala ngokwengqondo nangomzimba’ (wellbeing burnout). Abanye bathi impilo enhle uhambo, hhayi indawo yokufika – inqubo eqhubekayo lapho impilo yakho ifakwa kuyo yonke ingxenye yokuphila kwakho. Kodwa kwesinye isikhathi, lokhu kungaphambeka,…
Indlela Yokuthola Inkululeko Ngaphandle Kokujaha Njalo Isiphetho
Thembelihle Zwane 28 September 2026 Uyakhumbula yini okwenzeka ngesikhathi sokugcina lapho wagcina ufinyelele ku-‘inbox zero’, noma waqeda wonke umsebenzi ohlwini lwakho lwansuku zonke? Wawuzizwa kanjani? Futhi lowo muzwa wokuphumelela wahlala isikhathi esingakanani? Kungenzeka wabona ama-imeyili eqhubeka nokungena, izingubo ezingcolile zanda futhi ikhalenda lakho ligcwala futhi. Emphakathini wanamuhla ogxile ekufinyeleleni kwezinto, umqondo wokuthi ‘sengiqedile’ ungowesikhashana. Kunokugxila…
Ancestors and Antidepressants: The 2026 Dialogue Between Traditional Healers and Western Psychiatrists
Londiwe Buthelezi 24 September 2026 This Heritage Day, a quiet but consequential conversation is happening in consulting rooms and rondavels across South Africa. It is a conversation about who gets to define illness, and who gets to heal it. The numbers explain why this conversation cannot wait. South Africa carries one of the highest documented…
Ingqondo Engaphumuli: Ukuqonda i-ADHD
Londiwe Buthelezi 21 September 2026 I-ADHD yisimo sengqondo esithinta indlela umuntu (ikakhulukazi ingane) aziphatha ngayo, lapha eba nobunzima bokuhlala endaweni eyodwa, ukugxilisa ingqondo, noma ukulawulwa imizwa namawala. Uma singabonwa, singabangela izinkinga ezinkulu esikoleni, emsebenzini, nasebudlelwaneni. Abaningi abane-ADHD bahlukumezeka ngenxa yezimpawu ezifana nokwenza izinto ngokushesha ngaphandle kokucabanga, ukungahleleki njalo, ukukhohlwa, ukungakwazi ukugxila, kanye nobunzima bokulawula imizwa….
After the Impact: When the Body Heals but the Mind Doesn’t
Nonhlanhla doesn’t remember the crash itself. She remembers the sound before it, and the silence after. She was driving her mother’s Polo home from a night shift on the N3 outside Pietermaritzburg when a bakkie crossed the median. She woke up in Grey’s Hospital with a fractured wrist and two cracked ribs, grateful, everyone told…
