Pop-up offers addiction support
‘It's about reducing stigma'
It is a matter of facing the reality and finding your own strengths and resilience.
Shanette Hirst
Shoppers at Whanganui’s Trafalgar Square may have noticed a new table set up outside The Warehouse on Wednesday afternoons. The friendly people seated at the table are Shanette Hirst and Tane Puru and they encourage passersby to stop and chat about drugs.
“It is about reducing stigma and reaching out to people living with addiction,” Hirst said.
“It is also about whanau - family and friends who are affected by another person’s addiction.
“We are here to listen and provide information if people want it.”
The most prominent signs at the table refer to P, or methamphetamine, although Hirst said support is also available for problems with other addictive substances including alcohol.
Hirst said addiction didn’t care where people came from and dependence on methamphetamine was the most life-destroying addiction of all.
The weekly pop-up exercise is known as a “walk-in” and it is part of a national network initiated by the Anti P Ministry Charitable Trust, which aims to spread awareness and promote education around the methamphetamine “epidemic” in New Zealand.
The Anti-P Ministry was founded by Brendon Warne of Dannevirke in 2007 after his personal struggles with methamphetamine addiction almost destroyed his family.
Puru said he too walked that path and he now works with men at Kaitoke Prison and in the Whanganui community to assist them to recover from addiction.
Using the Ma¯ori health model Te Whare Tapa Wha¯ he encourages them in finding the pathway to recovery by working on their taha tinana (physical health), taha wairua (spiritual health), taha wha¯nau (family health) and taha hinengaro (mental health).
“It enables people to see how they interconnect and how you can’t be healthy in one area if you are neglecting another essential area of your life,” Puru said.
“I have learned to step back if someone isn’t ready to accept where they are at because they will only tell you what they think you want to hear. It is better to focus on the person who is ready to accept that they need to make changes and you just have to put those skills in place for when someone is ready.”
Puru said his past experiences gave him the insight to encourage other men to stay in recovery once they step on to that path.
“My addiction led me to prison and I never realised how hard it would be when I got out.
“It wasn’t temptation that led me back to using, it was the way I interacted with the people around me and realising that my past relationships needed to change.”
Hirst said although she had not been a methamphetamine user, she had seen its devastating effects and had experienced addiction.
“The reality is there are more people who have experienced some form of addiction than those who haven’t,” she said.
“It is a matter of facing the reality and finding your own strengths and resilience.
“Some people come from a place where they have never been made aware that they have capabilities and it is wonderful to see people discover those things in themselves when they begin recovery.”
Hirst facilitates a number of addiction support groups in Whanganui and said people did not need to try to manage their addictions alone.
“One of the biggest barriers to people getting the help they need is the way addiction is viewed by society. Some people think it only affects certain sectors but a drug like P is no respecter of anyone’s income or status.
“When people feel judged and unworthy, it drives them deeper into addictive behaviour.”
“We would love people to come and talk to us at the walk-in but if they don’t feel comfortable about doing that they can visit the Anti P Ministry website or the Whanganui District Health Board site has listings of the community services available in Whanganui.”
The walk-in table will be at Trafalgar Square on Wednesdays from noon until 2pm for friendly chats and printed information to take away.