Where to get help
Lifeline (open 24/7): Depression Helpline (open 24/7): Healthline (open 24/7): Samaritans (open 24/7): Suicide Crisis Helpline (open 24/7):
0800 543 354
0800 111 757
0800 611 116
0800 726 666
0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends. 0800 376 633. You can also text 234 for free between 8am and midnight, or email talk@youthline.co.nz phone 0800 9428 787 between 1pm and 10pm on weekdays and from 3pm to 10pm on weekends. Online chat is available from 7pm to 10pm every day at www.whatsup.co.nz.
Youthline (open 24/7):
0800 WHATSUP children’s helpline:
8691 for free.
Your local Rural Support Trust: Alcohol Drug Helpline (open 24/7):
Supporting Families in Mental Illness:
commercial and an ethical point of view. The commercials are staggering. A recent Harvard Business School podcast reported that each year in the United States US$27 billion (NZ$40.8 billion) in work days are lost to mental health, but 90 per cent of workplaces lack a stated approach to recognise and manage mental health in the workplace.
Using simple population percentages as a metric, that would suggest the cost to New Zealand workplaces is around $400 million. And sadly, I’d be surprised if the 90 per cent figure was any better here.
Meanwhile, there’s the productivity drain that comes from having people show up to work but 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP) 0800 787 797. You can also text
0800 732 825 due to mental illness being unable to perform to their proper capacity.
As I posited in my earlier column, there’s no single panacea there so a matrix approach is likely best.
While the makeup of that matrix is likely to vary across industries I’m fairly sure that telling a person suffering from mental health that they no longer have a job (or a home in the case of Cumberland House) is unlikely to form part of it.
Mike ‘‘MOD’’ O’donnell is a professional director, advisor and writer. His Twitter handle is @modsta and he reckons New Zealand needs to do a much better job in managing mental health.