Anxiety and Stress Disorders Research Unit

Services offered

People with Anxiety Disorders
The Unit offers free evaluation and treatment to people with anxiety disorders if they meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria for our studies. It also offers information to callers about the different programmes being conducted at the Unit, which include:

• Genetics programme - We provide a comprehensive evaluation to people with anxiety disorders and their referring clinicians. A small blood sample is also taken.
• Bathuthuzele Clinic - We provide adolescents who have been traumatised (e.g. raped or assaulted) with a comprehensive evaluation. Treatment research is also undertaken.
• Clinical trials - We provide the public with the opportunity to participate in clinical trials of the latest medications for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Doctors and Health Professionals
The Unit also offers doctors and other health professionals information about the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders.

The Mental Health Information Centre is dedicated to providing electronic, telephonic and written assistance to both laypersons and professionals, tel: (021) 938-9229. Our website (http://www.mentalhealthsa.co.za) gets over 40 000 hits a month.

In addition, we produce a "Mental Health Resource Guide", a handbook of medication treatment algorithms aimed at the general practitioner, a patient guide to anxiety disorders, and Afrikaans and English textbooks of psychiatry.

Journalists and the Media
The Mental Health Information Centre also assists journalists and the media in preparing stories on mental illness. We have worked closely with magazine, radio, Internet and television journalists in order to provide accurate and up-to-date information on a range of psychiatric disorders.

Masters and Doctoral Students
We welcome the participation of masters and doctoral level students in our research. We are happy to suggest potential projects, to provide advice on methodological issues, and to help with publication of projects relating to anxiety disorders.

Pharmaceutical Industry Research
The Unit also offers the pharmaceutical industry an ideal environment in which to conduct clinical trials. As with many other South African medical facilities, we are able to provide extremely competitive recruitment rates and trial costings. We have recruited successfully for clinical trials in each of the anxiety disorders and look forward to conducting further work in this area.