Media Articles

Sport is one of the most powerful tools for developing young people, but mental health experts warn that the pressure to perform that comes with the increasing competitiveness and professionalisation of school sport in South Africa may be creating unintended psychological risks for some young athletes. The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) highlights that while high-performance sport achievements at school level can open education opportunities and careers in e

The rising use of prescription drugs for weight loss can have life-changing positive effects for those who have struggled to control their weight, but psychiatrists warn that users should pay as much attention to the mental health impacts as to the physical transformation. Licensed in South Africa for treatment of type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management for people diagnosed with obesity, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are incr

As more people turn to artificial intelligence (AI) agents for answers to everyday questions, mental health professionals warn that “helpful” advice from chatbots on issues such as stress, anxiety and depression can do more harm than good. Interactions with AI-powered chatbots, particularly by vulnerable young people, have been linked in the USA, Canada and Europe to several cases of teen suicide, mass shootings, murder-suicides and psychological trauma and breakdown result