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20 October 2022 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Valentino Ndaba
World Mental Health Day
The UFS community, in partnership with various stakeholders, commemorated World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2022.

About 400 million people globally suffer from mental or neurological disorders and psychosocial problems. Mental disorders, much like physical ones, differ in severity. The Department of Health distinguishes between transient (such as an acute stress disorder), periodic (such as bipolar disorder, characterised by periods of exaggerated elation followed by periods of depression), and long-lasting and progressive (such as Alzheimer’s disease) disorders.

Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and job stress are the most common conditions. It is not only the individuals suffering from these problems who are affected, but also their families, co-workers, and the broader community. An interplay between biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors results in mental health conditions.

Mobilising efforts in support of mental health
Internationally, the month of October has been declared Mental Health Awareness Month, with 10 October being the day on which Mental Health Day is observed. The objective is to educate the public about mental health and to reduce the stigma that people with mental illness are often subjected to. To mark the day, the University of the Free State (UFS) Student Counselling and Development (SCD) Office, KovsieHealth, and the student mental health advocacy organisation, Next Chapter, held an activation at the Thakaneng Bridge on the Bloemfontein Campus. This followed a silent walk from the campus’ main gate to the bridge.

Chairperson of Next Chapter, Lehlogonolo Sebjetseba, emphasised the significance of commemorating Mental Health Day. “The importance of observing this day is to continue raising awareness about mental health and to further reduce the stigma around mental health. We did this by introducing students to different psychosocial support organisations such as Alnisa Continua, Panda, the Befrienders, and more. These organisations cater specifically for students’ mental well-being,” said the second-year Industrial Psychology student.

Raise awareness of mental health issues
On 12 October 2022, the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Well-Being, together with the Department of Human Resources (HR), presented a Mental Health talk by award-winning journalist and author, Marion Scher, on the Bloemfontein Campus. The talk touched on preventive mental health interventions, breaking the silence around mental health issues, and guidelines on how to provide support to those affected by mental health problems.

Scher further explained bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, as well as the difference between a bad day and clinical depression. Guidance was provided on avenues to explore when seeking mental health assistance, and advice was offered on what to do if you think someone is having suicidal ideation. In addition, the division has made available the Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit, which employees can access for free online.

Mental health is a global priority
The overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world. This year’s national theme is ‘Mental Health and Well-being for All: Promoting Mental Health in Physical and Virtual Spaces’, which is based on the global theme: ‘Making Mental Health and Well-Being for All a Global Priority’. This is in line with Sustainable Development Goal number three, which focuses on good health and well-being.

SCD and HR will continue to host events throughout the year that encourage students and staff to protect and improve their mental health. These are some of the upcoming events:

Health Survival Guide webinar (students):
Date: 21 October 2022
Time: 10:00
Venue: Blackboard

Self-care webinar (students):
Date: 1 November 2022
Time: 12:00-14:00
Venue: Blackboard

 

News Archive

Researcher in mathematics ranks among world’s top peer reviewers
2016-10-07

Description: Abdon Peer Review Tags: Abdon Peer Review

Prof Abdon Atangana, from the UFS Institute
for Groundwater Studies.
Photo: Johan Roux

Thirty-year-old Prof Abdon Atangana has received the prestigious Sentinels of Science Award 2016. This award honours the highest achievers in peer review across the world’s journals. The elite contributors to scholarly peer review and editorial pursuits internationally are also honoured with this award. Recipients have demonstrated an outstanding, expert commitment to protecting the integrity and accuracy of published research in their field.

Prof Atangana, who ranks number one in the mathematics discipline with a merit of 324, is a professor at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS).

He is editor of 17 international journals, editor-in-chief of two international journals and also reviewer of more than 200 international accredited journals. He has been lead and guest editor of some special issues. He is also editor of 19 journals of applied mathematics and mathematics and has presented and participated in more than 20 international conferences.

Prof Atangana’s research interests are methods and applications of partial and ordinary differential equations, fractional differential equations, perturbations methods, asymptotic methods, iterative methods, and groundwater modelling.

“Editors in more than 100 journals
trust my opinion to assess
whether a submitted paper
can be published or not.”

Peer review requires a respected expert in a given field

According to the professor, reviewers play a central role in scholarly publishing. “In the academic field, peer review is the process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field, before a paper describing this work is published in a journal or as a book. The peer review process helps the publisher to decide whether the work should be accepted, considered acceptable with revisions, or rejected.

“Peer review requires a respected expert in a given field, who is qualified and able to perform the review in a given timeframe. Due to the impact of my research papers in the field of mathematics and applied mathematics, and also my international recognition in the field of applied mathematics, many editors in more than 100 journals of applied mathematics trust my opinion to assess whether a submitted paper in a given journal of mathematics and applied mathematics can be published or not. Only this year I was able to review more than 100 papers from different journals of applied mathematics, applied physics, mathematics, engineering and hydrology,” he said.

A successful peer reviewer displays passion for the development of science

Key to his success as peer reviewer is his passion for the development of science, his ability to write fair reports about a given manuscript, as well as his knowledge on what has been done and what are the challenges in a given field to be able to give a report that will help the advancement of science.

Currently he is developing new mathematics tools that will be used to accurately model statistical problems as well as physical problems with many layers.

“To be the number one peer reviewer in the world in mathematics is a product of love, patience and determination to enhance science,” Prof Atangana said.

His advice to young researchers is to put their trust in God and to work hard. “Not necessarily for money but for love because the future of Africa is in the hands of young Africans,” he said.

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