Christmas stress on mental health

Mental health-related incidents increase over the holiday period, emergency workers on the front line say.

Marlborough St John territory manager Murray Neal said mental health-related callouts could go up by about 30 per cent in December and January compared with the rest of the year.

‘‘We do see an upswing in mental health type issues at this time of year, over the December, January, February period,’’ Neal said. ‘‘We do work pretty hard in that area over this period ... our average number of calls per month probably goes up by about 30 per cent over this time.’’

Neal suspected issues like financial pressure, family stresses and isolation to be some of the causes.

‘‘It is a family time and often people don’t have the family support that they would otherwise wish for,’’ he said. The ‘‘upswing’’ in mental health related callouts for paramedics had also been consistent over the past few years.

Marlborough community Constable Russ Smith said there was also increased police attendance for mental health issues over the Christmas period.

He said existing mental health issues could be exacerbated by financial pressure and increased use of alcohol. ‘‘Even people who don’t have a mental health issue, it can be stressful, it can impact people’s wellness and mental health. The consequences are that police do attend more instances that relate to mental health.’’

Not only do mental health callouts increase over Christmas but police figures show the trend is getting worse.

Smith said national figures had shown a 9 per cent increase in mental health related callouts in the 2018/19 year, compared with the previous 12 months.

‘‘A 9 per cent increase from one year to the next is quite significant – that is quite a big increase in demand for responses to mental health,’’ he said.

‘‘Every 24 hours, the police nationally attend about 104 calls for service at mental health related incidents, and Marlborough would be no exception in terms of whatever the national trend is.’’

Salvation Army social worker Bridget Nolan said vulnerable people could feel particularly isolated at this time of year.

‘‘As each year goes on, people are finding they are having to manage and cope with multiple things that are going on – mental health might be just one of them,’’ Nolan said.

‘‘I think there is a real element of people looking for someone to spend Christmas with or just a little bit of extra food, perhaps for comfort, or to make them feel like they can celebrate that time of year.’’

St John and police urged people struggling to reach out for support at this time of year.

‘‘Make use of the services that are out there,’’ Neal said.

‘‘They just need to pick up the phone and there are people out there who can look after them and help them.’’