newsletter update first quarter 2003

The year has started on a high note, and we have been hard at work with hosting a national awareness campaign, publications, spin-offs from our publications, and finalising the Spier Congress arrangements. Following on last year's successes, we have actively striven to build new and strengthen established working relations.

Building and maintaining relations
With industry: Janssen-Cilag has committed support in the form of a three-year educational grant. Lundbeck continue their valued support with an annual sponsorship to the Centre. Thank you!

At the handing-over ceremony of the Janssen-Cilag grant (from L to R): Prof Dan Stein (Director: MRC Anxiety Disorders Unit), Prof Ben van Heerden (Head: Medical School), Sudier Ramparsad (Janssen-Cilag), Charmaine Hugo & Jane Metelo-Liquito (MHIC) and Prof Robin Emsley (Head: Dept Psychiatry).

With mental health field: The MHIC is a member of the African Regional Council for Mental Health (ARCMH) and the Global Alliance for Mental Illness Advocacy Networks (GAMIAN). We submit information on our activities and services to these organisations, while benefiting from shared knowledge in the area of advocating mental health. We also take part in the international campaigns of the World Federation for Mental Health and the European Dana Alliance of the Brain (EDAB).

With media: The media is a crucial ally in any awareness and advocacy work and continues to be an important means of educating the general public about mental illness and health. The MHIC thus includes the media in all awareness campaigns and assists journalists in accurate reporting by referring to experts, supplying relevant information and checking articles.

Publications

• The 4th edition of the patient guide False Alarm! How to Conquer the Anxiety Disorders, is now available and is being distributed randomly with the South Africa Medical Journal. Please contact us about orders or if you want more information on this easy to read patient guide. The new version includes a chapter on Support Groups. Thanks to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group for contributing towards this!
• Updating of the 6th edition of the prescribing guide Psychiatric Medications in Primary Care: Algorithms and Guidelines, will start soon. Thanks to Prof. Dan Stein and the other contributing authors. We're applying for CDP accreditation again and are planning to distribute the book with CME.
• Of note - The National Dept of Health Standard Treatment Guidelines are being based on the algorithm book after consensus was reached amongst experts and roleplayers in the field of mental health earlier this year.
• Gathering information and editing the 7th edition of the Mental Health Resource Guide of Southern Africa is also going well and we should reach deadline with comfort. Thanks to Julie Ellis and Michelle Brand who are tirelessly helping with the updating.

Awareness campaigns
International Brain Awareness Week, 10 to 16 March. We are pleased to announce that this year's BAW went extremely well.

• The campaign kicked off with a media launch at the Cullinan Hotel in Cape Town. This was very well attended and generated much interest from the media, leading to numerous radio, newspaper and internet articles and announcements.
• Further celebrations of the brain included a neurosciences crossword puzzle competition that was open nationally to the general public.
• Various educational talks & memory testing were conducted at the Cape Technikon, Panorama Medi-Clinic, Langspanbrink Old Age Home, Stellenbosch ARDA group, Cape Jewish Seniors Organisation in Milnerton, and Parow Senior Centre. These were all well attended and appreciated.
• A neuroscience workshop completed the week's programme. Professionals in the neurosciences discussed their work with facilitators of support and consumer organisations in a train-the-trainer format. This proved to be an excellent educational experience for all who attended, and a (rainy) Saturday well spent.

A huge thank you to all our participants, partners and our sponsors - the University of Stellenbosch, EDAB/DABI, Janssen-Cilag, Pfizer, Novartis, Dept of Health, and Panorama Medi-Clinic.

BAW 2003: Dr Linda van Wyk addressing the general public on Alzheimer's and memory at the Panorama Medi-Clinic.

Educational activities

• CPD activities: Prof Lerer presented on PTSD at the Cullinan on 12 February. Thank you to Glaxo SmithKline for sponsoring this session.
• CBT Workshop: Together with the OCD Association and psychologist Blake Stobie from the Centre for Anxiety Disorders & Trauma at Maudsley Hospital in London, we hosted a day workshop on CBT techniques for practitioners.
• Dept of Family Medicine and Primary Care: We are again involved with Prof Bob Mash and his team from the Stellenbosch University Dept of Family Medicine with their Mental Disorders in Primary Care distance education course. Our Algorithm book is prescribed material for this course and we manage queries on the web-hosted Expert Bulletin Board.
• Website: We are continuously updating the information on our website and are working closely with the genetics research group to host their information and newsletter. We also plan to place sections from the Resource Guide to join the already placed selected chapters from the Algorithm book. A new frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) section has been added, as well as more links to relevant websites. A huge thank you to Johnny for all his work on keeping the website interesting and current!
• Nursing students: 4th year students continue to rotate through the MHIC and assist with information searches and the call centre. A support group session is also offered to post-basic psychiatric nurses who come together from various parts of the country to increase their knowledge and skills.

Research
MRC Research Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders: The Unit has received funding from the MRC for another year and congratulated on their productivity - congratulations Prof. Stein and all! As the psychoeducation arm of the Unit we continue to assist with media releases and recruitment for clinical and academic trials.

• The Unit recently started a collaborative study on victims of intimate partner violence with the Dept. Nursing and the Tygerberg Trauma Unit.
• Congratulations to Dr Soraya Seedat who has won a Career Award from the MRC. This is the most prestigious research award given by the MRC.
• Our OCD and related disorders research team have been very busy. Some of their recent studies include:
  • Childhood trauma in OCD, Trichotillomania and controls, finding that childhood trauma may play a role in the development of these disorders.
  • Quality of Life in the Anxiety Disorders: A comparison of OCD, SAD and Panic Disorder, while the extent of impairment appears similar across a number of different anxiety disorders, characteristic symptoms of each disorder may be associated with differential impairment of various domains of function and may require specifically tailored interventions.
  • Investigating the Role of Dopaminergic and Serotonergic Candidate Genes in OCD, although no statistically significant genotypic or allelic associations were detected, the data yielded interesting preliminary results that warrant further discussion and investigation.

Referral and info centre
We continue to provide telephonic information to health professionals, the general public and the media.

Of note has been the increasing number of international requests are being received via email as a result of our website.

Annerine & Faniswa continue to offer invaluable assistance in the centre while the resource guide is being updated.

The MHIC has recently been filmed as part of the promotional video for the University of Stellenbosch's Faculty of Health Sciences.

MHIC
Tel: +27 21 938 9229 Fax: +27 21 933 5790
PO Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
http://www.mentalhealthsa.co.za