People talk about ‘a case of the JKs’
New Zealand launched the world’s first national mental health anti-stigma campaign 20 years ago. Since then, many Kiwis have worked to bring the issue out of the closet, but some faces have been more prominent than others. Former All Black and mental heal
To start with I was pretty scared of working with the Government’s awareness programme because I felt that it could wreck everything that I’d played for and stood for, but it’s completely the opposite.
I often get a hug from a stranger and that’s a real honour and a privilege.
Now a lot of doctors tell me males come into their practice and say they’ve got ‘a case of the JKs’, which is pretty cool.
The reason I started working in the mental health awareness space was because I wanted to make sure I tried to help one person.
I do feel a pressure sometimes because every time I hear about our suicide rate, I feel really bad that I haven’t done enough. That puts a bit of pressure on, but I just try and think about all the people that we have helped.
We set out to try and change things and break down the stigma and it’s been a 15-year journey, but there’s still so much more to do.
Mental health is a worldwide problem because we’ve put money aside for physical health but we haven’t considered the effect our mental health has on us.
I know some of the world’s leading countries, including Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, are now realising when they divided their health budgets they probably didn’t put enough aside for mental health, and I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault, but mental health is the illness of the future.
Nowadays, a lot of people’s sick days are because they’re stressed or perhaps have performance anxiety and all those mental health things that come with the modern world.
There were 579 suicides in New Zealand last year, there’s a male that kills himself every day, and that makes me very upset.
But at least mental health issues are not hidden in the cupboard anymore.
The way I see things is we’re all aware of it now, so hopefully things will change. And now New Zealanders are starting to ask: what do we do?
When it comes to addressing mental health, I don’t think we should blame, I just think we should all get on and do our little bit. I believe the individual can make a change.
I often say the best way to fix mental health is to start talking about it in your own home — making it accepted there, and then making it accepted in the workplace.
I think if we can all have a little look at a practical way to help, we can all make a change.
For me New Zealanders have always been outstanding at solving problems.
So, that’s where I’m at at the moment: I’m really happy we’ve had a big effect around awareness but there’s so much more that I want to do, so I’m taking a more practical approach.
First, I’m going to continue to work with the Government to raise awareness (which I do free of charge).
Second, I’ve started the John Kirwan Foundation just recently, where I want to put mental health into the education system.
When I was suffering I thought I was going to be Jack Nicholson from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, because I had no understanding of mental health. No one had ever told me about mental health; no one had ever told me about anxiety attacks; no one had ever told me about any parts of mental health.
I would like to create a programme that can be put into the schools that teaches people around every aspect of mental health, so they have the IQ [understanding], then if something happens to them or someone close to them, they have the EQ [equipment] to deal with it.
My goal is to put a fence around the top of the cliff, rather than an ambulance at the bottom. And I think to do that we have to start with our children.
Third, I’m formulating a workplace wellness programme, working with Gilltrap Group. We need a system in the workplace where people can learn the tools to deal with stress and anxiety.
Fourth, I’m working with a company to open a wellness hub where people can go to get the advice and support they need, so their first interaction with mental health services isn’t a negative.
This is energy-sapping work and it is tough but I feel really privileged to be making a difference. ●➤ Reporters Katie Kenny and Laura Walters spent six months travelling the country, interviewing those whose lives have intertwined with mental health services, and investigating what needs to change in a project funded by the Frozen Funds Charitable Trust, through the Mental Health Foundation.