With Valentine’s Day on 14 February, Masiviwe’s focus this month has been on relationships – not only romantic ones, but relationships of all kinds.
One of the best ways to maintain good mental health is to focus on having strong, positive, and healthy relationships. This takes work, making time for communicating, and clearing up misunderstandings.
“My husband and I have a regular time on a Monday morning where we sit down and check-in with each other,” says Jennifer Charlton, who is the project manager for Masiviwe communications. “We share three things that we have appreciated about the other during the past week.”
In the business of life, sometimes our partner, friend, parent, or child could be struggling, and we don’t even notice. It might feel awkward at first to be opening up in this way, but open communication is very important for mental health.
SADAG (the South African Depression and Anxiety Group) has been focussing on teen suicide during the week of 13-17 February, and one of their biggest pieces of advice for adults dealing with teens is to check in with them regularly. Even if they aren’t ready to talk immediately, let them know you are there for them.
On our Masiviwe social media this month, we’ve been sharing a lot of advice around relationships and mental health, so do go and check it out (MasiviweZA on all the platforms) and visit our website (www.masiviwe.org.za).
