Growing up in the rural Eastern Cape, Zimasa knew as young as 13 that something was wrong, but just like everyone who surrounded her, she blamed her behaviour on teenage hormonal changes.
Looking back, she believes if she had received help earlier the disorder would have been brought under control more quickly and she probably wouldn’t have dropped out of school. Due to failure to address mental health conditions, which is worsened by a shortage of psychiatrists and inadequate child and adolescent mental healthcare services, many teenagers are falling through the cracks and their conditions extend to adulthood.
The project, the only one in SA, and possibly the world, started treating teenagers separately from adults in August, resulting in a lot more young people seeking mental healthcare services from clinics and lower-level hospitals.