{"id":47531,"date":"2026-01-15T12:42:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=47531"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:42:34","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnicole-nyaba-opens-up-about-childhood-trauma-and-mental-health-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/15\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnicole-nyaba-opens-up-about-childhood-trauma-and-mental-health-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicole Nyaba opens up about childhood trauma and mental health struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2810\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2810\" class=\"wp-image-2810 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Nicole-Nyaba-opens-up-about-childhood-trauma-and-mental-health.jpg?resize=600%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Nicole-Nyaba-opens-up-about-childhood-trauma-and-mental-health.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nicole-Nyaba-300x288.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2810\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicole Nyaba<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Model and former girlfriend of the late rapper Kiernan \u201cAKA\u201d Forbes, Nicole Nyaba, has shared a deeply personal account of a life shaped by instability, unresolved family wounds, and an ongoing battle with her mental and emotional well-being.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Durban under complicated circumstances, Nyaba says her earliest days were marked by uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy biological mother didn\u2019t have an ID at the time, and my father was living in another township. I was born in town by luck,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Although she is a South African citizen and carries her father\u2019s surname, Nyaba grew up moving between the Ndlovu and Nyaba families, as her parents were never married.<\/p>\n<p>Belonging to two households, she says, never meant feeling safe or rooted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a member of both families, but I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere. I took my father\u2019s surname because he did have a hand in my upbringing. But that didn\u2019t mean life was stable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raised mainly in Clermont and Umlazi, Nyaba describes a childhood filled with fear and emotional restraint.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI grew up curious but very afraid. I was always scared of getting myself into trouble, even as a child at home,\u201d she recalls. With time, she began to understand that many of her early experiences were not normal. \u201cThere are things that happened to me that I\u2019m only now realising were not okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That lack of safety followed her into school and adulthood, affecting how she learned and related to others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLearning was always a challenge for me. Not because I wasn\u2019t capable, but because I lacked something fundamental, that sense of safety and grounding,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like I was missing what connects you to life and to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Within her extended family, Nyaba says her pain was often dismissed or overlooked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the Ndlovu family, it was just me and my mother. In the Nyaba family, people went on with life as long as what happened to me didn\u2019t affect them,\u201d she says, adding that she was made to feel as though being left behind was normal.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most painful memories she carries is the death of her uncle, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Ndlovu, whose passing was reported as a suicide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat loss left too many unanswered questions,\u201d she says. \u201cIt affected more than just one person, it affected the entire family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By late 2024, Nyaba says her mental and emotional state worsened significantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to hold myself together since November 2024, because that\u2019s when everything got worse,\u201d she shares. \u201cI feel weak at times. I live in fear \u2014 fear of my death, fear of what comes after, and fear of being attacked emotionally and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She believes years of emotional neglect left her exposed and unprotected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mistakes were used against me, even though I didn\u2019t fully understand what was happening to me at the time,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t guarded or protected enough. And some of the harm came from people I trusted, family, friends, and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her distress became visible to the public in December, when she shared a deeply troubling message on social media, describing years of \u201csuffering in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the post, she explained that she had opened a new account because she felt limited in who she could speak to, and she appealed to women\u2019s organisations for help, saying she felt unsafe and alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease try not to look at my past and listen to me now,\u201d she wrote, adding that she felt she was \u201crunning out of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nyaba says the response highlighted how little of her story people truly understand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople see fragments of me and think they know my entire story,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey don\u2019t see the years of confusion, fear, and unanswered questions that shaped my reactions and decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While her association with a high-profile figure intensified public scrutiny, she insists her struggles began long before fame or public attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis didn\u2019t start with celebrity or relationships. This started in childhood, in the home, in the silence, in the things that were never addressed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as she begins to speak openly, Nyaba says her goal is survival, not sympathy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStaying silent nearly destroyed me,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut I\u2019m trying to pick myself up where I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She describes healing as slow and unpredictable. \u201cHealing is not linear. Some days I feel strong; other days I feel like I\u2019m starting from nothing again,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I\u2019m trying to be honest with myself for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As she continues to rebuild, Nyaba says her greatest wish is simple: peace and understanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want peace and the chance to live without fear,\u201d she says. \u201cI knew life in South Africa wasn\u2019t easy. I just never knew how much harder it could get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Nicole #Nyaba #opens #childhood #trauma #mental #health #struggles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Nicole Nyaba Model and former girlfriend of the late rapper Kiernan \u201cAKA\u201d Forbes, Nicole Nyaba, has shared a deeply&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47533,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47531\/revisions\/47533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}