At midday on September 3rd, the lunch break at the World Health Expo’s ThriveMD Mental Health Conference took on a strikingly symbolic form. Instead of quietly dispersing for meals, healthcare professionals stepped out for the AfricaInMind Walking Club activity, a circle of movement that was both simple and profound: walking together, shoulder to shoulder, as a practice of collective resilience.
The 2025 conference, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre under the theme “Unmasking Mental Health at Work,” was not an ordinary professional gathering. It opened with a moment of solemn remembrance: holding space for fallen healthcare heroes, including the story of Dr. Alulutho Mazwi, a young intern whose death from overwork has become a painful emblem of the systemic pressures crushing frontline workers. By starting with grief, the conference acknowledged an uncomfortable truth — that the very people tasked with saving lives are often sacrificing their own health in silence.
And yet, as the Walking Club reminded us, healing begins not only with acknowledging loss, but also by creating rituals of connection. This ethos — the movement from mourning to meaning, from exhaustion to resilience — ran through every keynote, panel, and activity of the three-day summit.
The brain under siege
In one keynote session, Dr Thabiso Tshabalala unpacked the neuroscience of burnout. Far from being “just stress,” burnout was described as a whole-brain experience: the amygdala locked on high alert, the hippocampus struggling with memory, the prefrontal cortex faltering in decision-making.
Delegates listened to the story of “Lindiwe,” a 38-year-old nurse who once thrived in high-pressure wards but now finds herself forgetful, indecisive, and emotionally reactive. Her struggles are not weakness — they are biology. Chronic overwork, research shows, reshapes the brain. Yet understanding this science is liberating: biology can heal, and systems can change to protect that healing.
From fatigue to leadership
Another highlight came from Dr. Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri. She reframed compassion as a leadership strength, not a soft skill. Compassion fatigue, she noted, is not inevitable. Leaders who model vulnerability, normalise wellness breaks, and create cultures of care can transform fatigue into resilience.
One case study told of Nurse A in Lagos, known for her tireless service until she began making errors and withdrawing. Rather than reprimand her, her head of department initiated weekly debrief circles and peer counseling. The result? Restored morale and improved retention. As Dr. Kadiri put it: “Compassionate leadership sustains. Policies that ignore wellness drain.”
The power of colour and culture
Other sessions reminded participants that wellbeing is influenced by subtler, often overlooked factors. In a presentation titled “Gen Z in Scrubs,” Dr Lehlogonolo Phala-Mkhwanazi demonstrated how the colours of uniforms are not cosmetic choices but psychological interventions. Blues and greens calm, reds stimulate, yellows energise but may increase anxiety.
Survey results showed younger clinicians want more freedom to choose colours that enhance mood and humanise healthcare environments. “We already work in a stressful environment,” one respondent wrote, “so feeling and looking good can assist in mood elevation and drive.” The message: flourishing is in the details, and even small design choices can change how people feel at work.
Building resilience from the ground up
Sandra Dennis of Canada offered a toolkit of contemplative practices rooted in what she called the “tree of resilience.” From stillness (meditation, centering) to movement (walking meditation, dance, yoga), to relational practices (storytelling, dialogue), she emphasised that wellbeing requires variety. Just as trees have many branches, resilience must draw from multiple practices: creative, ritual, relational, and activist. “Find what works for you,” she told delegates, “and let it root you in connection.”
A call to systems and souls
Perhaps the greatest strength of ThriveMD 2025 was its insistence on addressing both systemic reform and individual flourishing. Speakers pressed for written mental health policies — “not paperwork, but people-work,” — while also equipping individuals with daily tools: breathing techniques, journaling prompts, and even Afro dance wellness activities.
The symbolism of the AfricaInMind Walking Club crystallised this dual focus. On one hand, walking was a micro-break, a literal intervention against sedentary strain. On the other, it was a metaphor: that no one walks this journey alone, and that resilience is always collective.
From loss to legacy
The story of Alulutho Mazwi reminded delegates of the human cost of neglect. Yet, by holding space for fallen heroes, the conference refused to let tragedy be the final word. Instead, it called leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to transform grief into action — to make sure no more lives are “accidentally disabled” by systems that demand endurance but fail to provide support.
Positive psychology teaches us that flourishing is not the absence of struggle but the presence of meaning, connection, and growth. At ThriveMD 2025, those lessons were alive in every keynote, every breakout session, and every shared step around the CTICC.
Closing circle
The conference closed not with a lecture but with a sunset gratitude circle, and the launch of the book, Accidentally Disabled: The Journey to Thriving Against All Odds. It was a fitting end — affirming that resilience is both personal and communal, science and story, policy and practice.
As the sun dipped over Cape Town, one truth lingered: unmasking mental health at work is not just about preventing collapse. It is about creating conditions where healthcare workers — and the systems they sustain — can truly thrive.
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