Wake-up Call To All Politicians – Decades Of Neglect Have Led To A Mental Health Crisis In NZ

International research company Ipsos today released
findings of its third survey on mental health in Aotearoa
New Zealand, along with global comparisons to 34
countries.

The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) says the
survey results are a massive wake-up call for all
politicians and those leading the transformation of mental
health in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“For decades
politicians have failed the mental health of the people of
New Zealand, and they continue to fail. New Zealand’s
approach to mental health is not working. The transformation
process is not working, and New Zealanders know it is not
working,” chief executive of the MHF, Shaun Robinson
says.

“This should be jolting our leaders into a
national response on the scale of COVID-19 – we should be
uniting for mental health.”

The research reveals
that levels of distress, depression, stress and suicidality
are alarmingly high for all New Zealanders, especially those
aged 18-34. In the past year 73% of young people felt
stressed to the point they felt they could not cope; 63%
felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more;
51% felt stressed to the point they could not go to work;
and 40% felt suicidal or considered self-harm.

“We
have a crisis in young people’s mental health in
particular,” Mr Robinson says.

“Governments
already know about this crisis through research like
Youth19. Our politicians and health leaders should have
taken decisive action years ago. They did
not.”

Statistics for people aged 35-49 are also
concerning, with 61% saying they’ve felt stressed to the
point they could not cope, and 30% feeling
suicidal.

Despite these statistics, and despite most
people seeing mental health as just as important as their
physical health, the report shows New Zealanders don’t
think the health system prioritises their mental
wellbeing.

“This is despite government’s own
statistics telling them since 2003 that at least one in five
New Zealanders will experience significant mental health
problems each year – that is nearly one million people in
2022,” Mr. Robinson says.

The survey shows some
positive results around how often New Zealanders think about
their mental health, and their increasing willingness to ask
for help from family, friends and professionals.

But
with long waiting times and mental health seemingly down the
priority list, too often people can’t get the professional
help they need, Mr. Robinson says.

“Mental health
has been misunderstood, neglected, and mismanaged by
successive governments and the Ipsos research shows we are
reaping the consequences. How did we get here? Why do
politicians and officials repeatedly get it so
wrong?”

“It’s because they don’t understand
mental health – very few of them read the advice of the
Mental Health and Addictions Inquiry and even less of them
understood it.

“It’s because they keep doing the
wrong things – despite being told by the Inquiry that the
solution is not all about services they continue to focus on
services anyway – and they even do that
badly.

“And it’s because they don’t plan.
Without accepting the size of the issues or understanding
the nature of mental health, politicians and officials then
fail to have a plan of action. They dither and delay and
react to hot spots while the whole systemic issue gets worse
and worse,” Mr. Robinson says.

The Ipsos research
findings align with the conclusions of the 2018 Mental
Health and Addictions Inquiry, He Ara Oranga, in that
they show social conditions and lifestyle factors drive poor
mental wellbeing. The report shows the three top issues
impacting New Zealanders’ mental health are concerns
around finances, relationships with friends and family and
not getting enough sleep (slide 24).

“These issues
cannot be fixed by health services. As the Mental Health and
Addictions Inquiry said, New Zealand needs to address the
causes of distress – such as income adequacy, domestic
violence, an equitable economy. It needs to promote ways
people can build resilience and wellbeing in their daily
lives – such as managing sleep and relationship skills. And,
it needs to improve support services. This work needs to be
done simultaneously, in a co-ordinated and sustained way,
and to an agreed timeline people are accountable for,” Mr.
Robinson says.

“As we approach the General Elections
in 2023 the Mental Health Foundation challenges all
political parties to publicly show three
things:

1. A full understanding of mental health –
   from the causes of mental distress, to healthy lifestyles
   that drive wellness, to innovative approaches to support and
   services.
2. An agenda for change that addresses all
   the aspects of mental health.
3. A credible plan to put
   that agenda into action, with urgency.

The
Foundation has recently released 12
actions for politicians to adopt in next year’s mental
health policies, which advise on these three
points.

“These 12 actions give New Zealanders a
chance to assess our country’s future leaders against the
likelihood they’ll make the changes in the mental health
system we all need to
see.”

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