Our Birth

The organization was established and registered in 1981, which was one year after the attainment of independence in Zimbabwe. The organization was established to help the recovery process for people who will have suffered from mental illness such as bipolar, depression, anxiety schizophrenia, and substance abuse among other illnesses. During that period, Zimbabwe was coming out of a protracted liberation struggle, which saw many lives being lost and other troubling circumstances that are consistent with any war situation. These experiences and the trauma, which was consequent to that, placed a lot of burden on the health delivery system to address challenges of mental health.

Though hospitals were available to offer treatment for the affected, a huge gap existed in terms of the rehabilitation of the mentally ill as well as the existence of a properly coordinated intervention strategy to raise awareness of mental health in the communities and at workplaces. The capacity of government to offer comprehensive treatment facilities was also limited. This saw the establishment of ZIMNAMH as a private voluntary organization to complement government efforts in offering services to the affected and their households and to help build community resilience in coping with the onset of mental illness.