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Cheers to Wedge Gardens’ inspirational nurses
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SANCA Wedge Gardens toasted its nursing staff recently for the excellent job they did in caring for their substance abuse recovery patients during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. On September 4, the nurses were all presented with a specially-made coffee cup that reads: Never underestimate a nurse who survived the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Sister… Read more
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Bipolar disorder and addiction – An up-and-down swing of moods
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Bipolar is classified as a mental illness characterised by extreme high and low moods. When people with substance abuse problems have a dual diagnosis of both addiction and a mental disorder, their path becomes extra challenging. This is according to Karen Griessel, a social worker at Sanca Wedge Gardens rehab centre in Johannesburg. “With bipolar,… Read more
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International Overdose Day: 31 August
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“I felt her body next to mine; she was cold. I tried to wake her, felt for a pulse, nothing. I carried her to the shower and tried to revive her. I did CPR but it was too late. Four years later, the scene still replays clearly in my mind. Such a waste of somebody… Read more
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Be someone’s Piglet today
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“There is no bigger joy than when our beloved childhood books continue to teach us about life even in adulthood,” says Estelle Raath, the deputy manager of Sanca Wedge Gardens treatment centre in Johannesburg. “This little excerpt from the famous book by AA Milne offers us a timely reminder of why it is very beneficial… Read more
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Diversity training for Wedge Gardens
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Wedge Gardens Treatment Centre has started Diversity Training for the Wedge team, every second week, to empower its employees to understand and respect each other and become more culturally sensitive to its patients’ needs. Rebecca Mlokhoti and Hlumela Anderson recently shared their Xhosa culture, traditions, milestones and expectations with the team. “As an Afrikaans woman,… Read more
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Former addict lights the way for people in recovery
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At 11 years of age, James Donovan started drinking. At 13, he was smoking weed and when he was barely out of his teens, he exchanged a sexual favour for a meagre R50 hit. The boy who just wanted to fit in became the adult who lived on the streets, who was unemployable and virtually… Read more
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Anxiety in COVID times
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Registered nurse Estelle Raath shares her experiences of the general anxiety that has become so commonplace during the global coronavirus pandemic: I am not even an anxious person – organised, but definitely not anxious. So what is happened to me during the COVID-19 pandemic? I think as a frontline worker, the fear and anxiety cause… Read more
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Mindfulness is a great coping skill
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MINDFULNESS: the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing. Mindfulness a great coping skill, says Karen Griessel, a social worker at Sanca rehab centre Wedge Gardens in Johannesburg. She writes: It is fair to say that the world around us has changed significantly and for… Read more
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Awesome Adèl turns 60!
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Fittingly, Wedge Gardens manager Adèl Grobbelaar’s birthday falls on Women’s Day, August 9. This year, she turned a significant 60 and to celebrate, her colleagues organised a surprise breakfast party on August 5. “It was the most sanitised birthday we have ever celebrated,” laughs Wedge Gardens deputy manager Estelle Raath. “Working with Adèl every day… Read more
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Illegal cigarettes and substance abuse
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South Africa has banned the sale of cigarettes during lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19 but the big illegal cigarette brands are now the best sellers around the country. “As most of us know, smoking is one of the leading causes of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases worldwide. Unlike legally produced cigarettes, illicitly… Read more
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wedgegardens@randaid.co.za
