BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION(WHO)
“Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
Most psychiatric disorders have their onset in childhood, but sadly left undiagnosed until quite late. This delay results in the disruption of the children’s global functioning (interfering with normal development, deteriorating academic and poor social skills). Youth mental health care would therefore require intervention from various professionals (Child (paediatric) psychiatrist, occupational therapist, social workers and psychologists) and it’s always difficult for families to know where to start.
About
DR. N S Z Tema
Dr Tema’s interest in working with families whose children suffer from psychiatric illnesses developed from the time he was training as a medical doctor. He has always appreciated the importance of educating families about mental health illnesses and addressing common myths and stereotypes that are making rounds fueling the stigma. His other focus is offering families’ integrated care.
Dr Tema is a medical doctor that has specialized in psychiatry and further on specialized in child and adolescent psychiatry. His extensive experience in both state and private mental health care has served to highlight how families can get desperate and highly vulnerable.
He is currently working part-time in Tara Hospital (Adolescent Inpatient and Eating Disorders Unit) and runs a private practice from the Family and Child Therapy Centre in Melville. His involvement in the state has kept him actively involved in teaching nurses, medical students, medical doctors specializing in psychiatry and allied medical professionals through the University of the Witwatersrand.
His qualifications include: an undergraduate medical degree (MBBCh) through the University of the Witwatersrand, psychiatry specialist qualification (F C Psych) and a child and adolescent sub-specialist qualification (Cert Child Psych) through the Colleges of Medicine (CMSA). He has also attained a masters degree (MMed Psychiatry) through Wits University.
Experience
- Successfully hosted a child and adolescent two-day conference for South Africa & USA Collaboration for 3-4 September 2015.
- Currently writing a book chapter for a book on Comparative Global Psychosomatic Medicine. With Prof. Hoyle Leigh (San Francisco) and Prof B Janse van Rensburg (SA).
- Supervision of several candidates in masters in medicine from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The following papers were presented:
2011 – Wits Neuroscience annual research days:
Psychiatric consultations and the management of associated co-morbid medical conditions in a regional referral hospital.
2011 – SASOP Annual conference poster presentation:
Psychiatric consultations and the management of associated co-morbid medical conditions in a regional referral hospital.
- I presented three papers at the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professionals (IACAPAP) 2014, Durban:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the Southern Region: Is there hope in the horizon (Symposium)
- Tema, N.; Sodi, T. Race, Culture, and Psychiatry in South Africa. (Chapter 17). Critical Psychiatry and Mental Health: Exploring the work of Suman Fernando in Clinical Practice. Routledge, London. 2014. Editors Roy Moodley & Martha Ocampo
- Tema, N., Abdulmalik, J. Feedback on “The Helmut Remshmidt Research Seminar” (IACAPAP,) Stellenbosch, South Africa. 2013. IACAPAP Bulletin, January 2014.
- Tema, N.; Janse van Rensburg, B. (2015) Psychiatric consultations and the management of associated co-morbid medical conditions in a regional referral hospital. South African Journal of Psychiatry
Services
Assessment and management of children, adolescents and young adults for the following conditions:
Other Services:
Substance Abuse in adolescents,
Bipolar disorder,
Elimination disorders (Enuresis and Encopresis),
Eating disorders,
Suicidality,
Deliberate self-harm,
Psychotic Disorders, Tics, Trauma