Pretoria - Limpopo Health MEC Dikeledi Magadzi has encouraged families of patients with mental conditions to keep them in a familiar environment with family and community members and consider institutionalisation as the last resort.
"There are people who are convinced that a mentally ill patient must stay in hospital forever even when it is not clinically required and most of the time they are not visited, this must change," Magadzi said.
Magadzi will on Thursday address patients with mental illness and their families during a family day service to be held at Hayani Hospital.
The day, which is part of the mental health activities, will address the stigmatisation and discrimination of people with mental illnesses.
During her address, Magadzi is expected to encourage family members to accept, care and love people with mental illnesses as they are the necessary ingredients for speedy recovery.
"It is important that we all accept that mental illness is a real health condition that is treatable to ensure that we support them, including assisting those who are suffering from this kind of illnesses in taking medication as prescribed by a health worker," said Magadzi.
Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood and ability to relate with others, resulting in a diminished capacity for coping with ordinary demands of life.
One can recover from a mental illnesses and most people diagnosed with mental illnesses can experience relief from symptoms by taking their individual treatment plan as directed by a health worker.
