Twelfth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Mental health problems among students entering tertiary institution are rive, and are driven, in part, by the immense pressure on academic, changes that student’s face, besides adjusting to university life, is leaving their families behind. In addition, the shift from rural areas or townships to university simultaneously brings excitement and anxiety for black students who leave their homes with a hope to obtain a degree at a university such as the University of the Witwatersrand. The HerMind Woman’s study is concerned with understanding the perceptions of black female students from rural areas on the effectiveness of mental health facilities on campus. Experienced Centered Narrative framework was used to understand how the student perceived these services. Seminar/study provided a platform for story telling from individuals who have experienced and dealt with mental illness. Semi-structured interviews were also collected with ten final year students using an interview schedule to allow female students to share mental health stories and to give meaning to their lived experiences. The results demonstrate intersections such as socio-economic background, culture, gender, geographic location, race, and age impact black female students’ mental health and their interpretation of mental health treatment experiences. The existing unit are do not offer effective mental health treatment that addresses challenges students from rural areas face thus, mental health treatment service need to factor in discourses of race, geographic location and language in treatment programs.