Mental health disorders are thought to cause 15 percent of annual global deaths and the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that depression is fast becoming the largest cause of disability.
Treatment for mental disorders is effective, with up to 90 percent of sufferers experiencing a reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life. But two-thirds of people suffering from diagnosable depression, dementia and schizophrenia, do not seek treatment.
Anton Rossouw, chairperson of the Psychiatric Focus Forum (PFF), says public perception of mental disorders must be addressed if the situation is to improve.
The PFF was established in 1997 with the aim of de-stigmatising psychiatric illness and eradicating discrimination against psychiatric patients.
"The words 'mental illness' conjure up frightening images and perceptions steeped in stigma, reflecting the distorted perceptions most people hold about mental disorders and their treatment," said Rossouw.
The funding of treatment for mental disorders, he says, frequently discourages people from seeking treatment.
"Medical schemes in South Africa have historically limited their psychiatric benefits to the extent that in many cases, appropriate and adequate treatment cannot be provided," he said.
Rossouw said sufferers were often forced to seek psychiatric care in State facilities.
"State facilities are already overloaded and struggling to cope with these patients, who constitute a portion of the patient population who should be taken care of," he said.
Many patients who seek help often fail to comply with treatment recommendation, Rossouw says, resulting in the relapse of what is, in fact, a chronic illness. "Patients also relapse as a direct result of the lack of medical aid benefits for chronic medication," he said.
To achieve its objectives, the PFF endorses treatment programmes that acknowledge that mental illness results from a combination of complex factors and which provide a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment.
The recent introduction of prescribed minimum benefits in the Medical Schemes Act has assisted in bringing about positive change and many schemes have adopted their policy in terms of psychiatric patients.