Provision of Mental Health Services in South African Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities

The mental health experiences and needs of methamphetamine users in Cape Town: A mixed-methods study

“…[11] Further complicating matters for a substance using population, substance abuse and other mental health services are delivered by distinct service systems, with neither system equipped to effectively address both problems in an integrated manner. [12] Yet, our findings indicate that a substantial proportion of methamphetamine users could benefit from integrated substance abuse and mental health services. Some might argue that the depressive symptomatology in this population is likely a consequence of the physiological effects of methamphetamine, [5] and might resolve after a period of abstinence.…”

Substance misuse trends in South Africa

“…Help seeking is often left until substance use is severe, with the result that the types of services that are easily accessible are often not appropriate for the severity of the problem (Myers et al , ). Despite the high comorbidity of substance use and other mental disorders, few substance abuse services treat mental disorders in their treatment populations (Myers and Fakier, ). This is largely due to the historical separation of mental health and substance abuse services in South Africa, with the social welfare sector being responsible for substance abuse and the health sector responsible for mental health service provision.…”

“…This is largely due to the historical separation of mental health and substance abuse services in South Africa, with the social welfare sector being responsible for substance abuse and the health sector responsible for mental health service provision. This has resulted in separate workforces and different funding mechanisms for these two service fields and has led to the substance abuse treatment workforce being ill equipped to detect and manage patients with co‐occurring mental disorders (Myers and Fakier, ).…”

Aggressive behaviour among drug-using women from Cape Town, South Africa: ethnicity, heavy alcohol use, methamphetamine and intimate partner violence

“…These findings suggest that in order to reduce the perpetration of violence among substance-using women, interventions that focus on the reduction of methamphetamine and heavy alcohol consumption are needed. While methamphetamine use has been found to be prevalent in previous studies with substance-using women in disadvantaged communities [ 34 , 35 ], treatment for methamphetamine use is still not always accessible for women from these communities, despite high levels of treatment readiness [ 36 , 37 ]. Providing services that reach such vulnerable substance-using women is therefore key.…”