Welcome to the SASMHD Website

Mental Health is a condition of well-being in relation to self and others characterized by such qualities as positive self-esteem, accurate perception of others and the world, stability and appropriateness in mood, balance and purposiveness in behaviour, dependable sense of identity and values, adaptability to one's environment, ability to engage in productive work and fulfilling love, and commitment to a source of devotion beyond oneself. As such, mental health is an active process, not merely the absence of illness. (Aist 1990)

"The Deaf person's greatest dream is to be accepted as a person in their own right. To be a full contributing member of society, who is entitled to all rights and all opportunities offered to other people, and to have the right to an own language and culture."

As Sign Language is often a Deaf person's first and only language, health services should make provision for this. Without fluency in Sign Language, most health practitioners are unable to recognise symptoms of mental or physical distress in a Deaf person and thus cannot effectively treat him/her. This fundamental communication failure is a serious infringement of their human rights and leads to inappropriate hospitalisation without informed consent, inappropriate treatment and aftercare.

 



Why a spiral logo?

On studying the inside of a shell, the world-renowned Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci once said of the spiral "It is the most perfect shape in nature."
From the beginning of time, the spiral shape has been used on the cave walls of primitive artists.  The Aboriginals in Australia, the San people in Southern Africa and the Indian tribes in South America all used the spiral as a symbol of perfection and eternity.  The young child when first beginning to scribble often develops a "spiral-like" design as he or she develops finer motoric skills.

The choice of the spiral to represent mental health is very appropriate as it is considered by many to be the perfect shape.  It is also an open-ended shape with a beginning and an end but the spiral repeats itself which is indicative of self-assessment and self-improvement / development.  The spiral used in the context of mental health and Deafness gives one the idea of striving for perfection within a very sound support system as to enable the client / person to reach fulfilment.