14 May – Health

Today we spoke to Nick van der Meulen - Senior Chemist from iThemba LABS. We were talking about radiation treatment. iThemba LABS is having an open day in celebration of the National Science Week. Please note that booking is essential for all events. For enquiries or bookings phone Ryan Linden on (021) 843-1021.

And we also spoke Dianne Mallaby – a psychologist. We were talking about depression. According to research depression is not something you can just "snap out of." It's caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals, along with other factors. Like any serious medical condition, depression needs to be treated. For more information on depression you can contact the South African Depression and Anxiety Group at (011) 783 1474 or the Suicide Crisis Line at 0800 567 567 alternatively you can contact Cape Town Lifeline at (021) 461 11 11.

Our last interview was with Clairisha Jacobs, Kyle McKerrow & Herschelle Fish – 4th year Occupational Therapy students from the University of the Western Cape. Occupational therapy refers to the use of meaningful occupations to assist people who have difficulty in achieving occupationally balanced lives. For more on Occupational Therapy you can contact the Occupational Therapy Dept at the University of the Western Cape (021) 959 3151or the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa at (011) 482 1000 alternatively you can visit www.otasa.org.za