RISING ABOVE MENTAL CHALLENGES

BY NATHAN ADAMS

I feel like I have been living two lives for the past nine years.

A 24-year-old student has beaten the odds to cross the stage at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) autumn graduation.

Leigh-Vern Lamberts is an Industrial Psychology honours graduand who has bipolar mood disorder, borderline personality disorder and social anxiety. Although it has been difficult, she has refused to allow her mental health to get the better of her. “I feel like I have been living two lives for the past nine years,” she explained.

Lamberts obtained her SA netball and athletics colours in high school and was a top achiever in her class.

Despite coming across as a driven extrovert, she made several attempts to take her own life. But she considers herself “one of the lucky ones”.

She has continued to thrive at UWC and is enrolled as a master’s student with the ambition of pursuing her PhD. Lamberts wants to dispel the notion that people battling mental disorders cannot succeed academically.