‘Appalling’ wait times for mental health support
Demand for mental health support is escalating yet help appears increasingly hard to come by. Jake Kenny talks to three young Cantabrians about their struggle.
Jack’s story
Christchurch author Jack Hartley, 24, said he was appalled by the lack of support on offer when he sought help for depression.
‘‘The wait times are disgusting. If you break your arm, it gets fixed straight away. Why should you have to wait a minimum of six weeks for someone to listen to you? It affects so many people and its permanent,’’ Hartley said.
‘‘A couple years ago I was really bad ... they had emergency sessions but you basically had to say you were about to kill yourself to get them,’’ he said.
Hartley said he was uncomfortable from the day he sought help, right up until he got an appointment with a counsellor.
‘‘You feel guilty putting your name forward because there’s always people worse off than you. I finally got a session through my university, but I found them really awkward and it didn’t help at all to be honest,’’ he said.
The 24-year-old said he went to his GP after that in hopes of getting a referral, where he was offered antidepressants before therapy.
‘‘You’re at your worst when you ask for help. Then to be told to put your problem on hold for two months is the hardest bit. I think that’s where a lot of the suicide is coming from,’’ he said.
Fisi’s story
University of Canterbury student Fisi-Belle Carrasco-Rex said she was diagnosed with depression in late 2017, two years later she is still seeking support.
‘‘I was put on the antidepressant Fluoxetine and sent to therapy that was very expensive, but necessary for my health and wellbeing,’’ Carrasco-Rex said.
‘‘It cost $180 per session, that my parents paid for. I only had three sessions at that time but the cost of it was unbelievable to me,’’ she said.
Carrasco-Rex said she was able to manage her symptoms temporarily after being diagnosed, but they recently returned due to the stress of her postgraduate study.
She decided to try therapy again. ‘‘Therapy is a scary thing to do because it means you have to confront the truth about your mental health and accept that you need help. No one wants to go to therapy,’’ she said.
Carrasco-Rex said she was advised to seek a referral to a psychologist from her GP.
‘‘The process was confusing. I was told to apply for a disability allowance that would pay for my sessions to see a psychologist. I had to fill out a form that both my GP and psychologist had to sign,’’ she said.
She was told she needed to pay for the appointments herself and would be reimbursed.
‘‘Therapy is very expensive, nearly $200 for 50 minutes. I feel sad to see that money I need for daily necessities go, and it makes me feel awful for people out there who desperately need help but just can’t afford it by any means.’’
Carrasco-Rex said she searched for therapy options again in October, but had still not been able to set up a disability allowance.
‘‘It feels like I have to prove again that I need help with my diagnosed illness. It feels like I am somehow lying about needing help but no one would lie about the way depression feels,’’ she said.
‘‘Depression is hell on earth and stops you from enjoying anything. I need help just like so many others in New Zealand but I’m afraid that if the process of getting financial help doesn’t become more streamlined soon the statistics of suicide will stay the same or go up,’’ Carrasco-Rex said.
The system is broken
In December 2018 the Ministry of Health (MOH) published a mental health and addiction inquiry which found that 20 per cent of NZ’s population experience mental health and addiction issues each year, but only 3.7 per cent access specialist services for mental health and addiction..
Its summary said that while many people received good care in NZ’s mental health and addiction system, the system was ‘‘unsustainable in its current form’’ with escalating demand for specialist services and limited support in the community. It also flagged difficulties recruiting and retaining staff.
It said the mental health system was set up to respond to people with a diagnosed mental illness but did not respond well to others who were seriously distressed, to prevent them from ‘tipping over’ into crisis situations.
‘‘Many people with common, disabling problems such as stress, depression, anxiety, trauma and substance abuse have few options available through the public system. By failing to provide support early to people under the current threshold for specialist services, we’re losing opportunities to improve outcomes for individuals, communities and the country,’’ the report concluded.
In September the Government announced a $6 million fund for providing mental health services at
22 general practices, with another
$30m for the scheme to be extended to other practices in 2020.
Strike action
About 600 psychologists, members of the Apex union, have been taking partial strike action since July, restricting their face-to-face contact with patients to two hours a day throughout October.
The Christchurch District Health Board (CDHB) said the strike had an impact on services.
CDHB acting director of quality and operations Barbara Wilson said the most urgent cases were seen..
‘‘However many had to, and continue to, wait longer as some assessments and treatments were delayed and rescheduled,’’ she said.
APEX psychology division secretary Annmaree Kingi, who is a clinical psychologist at Hillmorton Hospital, said people waited for unacceptable time periods to access therapy’’ even before the strikes.
‘‘The issue will not go away, even in the absence of striking, due to the lack of interest in the recruitment and retention issues,’’ Kingi said.
Workloads were increasing and ‘‘overburdened’’ psychologists were ‘‘leaving in droves’’ she said.
‘‘We contributed to the mental health inquiry and we’ve tried to signal what’s going on, the inquiry said we were right, we need more therapists, but no one’s doing it.’’
She said psychologists could not be replaced by less qualified workers.
‘‘The misconception is you can train other mental health workers to do our job. It doesn’t help, you need to be very qualified to deal with these things,’’ Kingi said.
‘‘Underneath it all for many people is trauma. You need psychologists for these people, we are the ones who are trained for that. These people will not get the necessary help from a month-long mental health course, but that’s what the Government thinks they can do,’’ she said.
Ministry of Health deputydirector general of mental health and addictions Robyn Shearer said all New Zealanders should be able to access mental health and addiction services when they needed them.
‘‘No one should feel like there isn’t an option of support if they need help,’’ Shearer said.
Universities under pressure
Following the death of University of Canterbury student Mason Pendrous from unknown causes, universities said they were seeing a ‘sustained’ rise in mental distress amongst students.
Chief executive of Universities New Zealand Chris Whelan said universities did not receive funding from the Government, and counselling services were paid for by student levies.
‘‘Universities saw a 25 per cent increase in investment in counselling and support services between 2013 and 2018, which was about a 20 per cent increase per student,’’ Whelan said.
However, he said there was a limit to what universities could do.
‘‘Universities can give trained mental health support but cannot provide secondary-style services for people with serious and chronic mental health conditions. Such students must be referred on for specialist and family support.’’
Shawn’s story
Canterbury resident Shawn O’Brien, 24, said he had problems when trying to get help with anxiety. When he finally got help, O’Brien said he was left disappointed.
‘‘It’s like that saying, you get what you pay for. I could afford to go to these guys but they didn’t help me in any sort of way and their wait times were at least a month,’’ O’Brien said.
‘‘I’d rather pay more to get a professional but the wait times mean I can’t even get in there, most of them are two months at a minimum,’’ he said.
Get help
Lifeline (open 24/7) – 0800 543 354 Depression Helpline (open 24/7) –
0800 111 757
Healthline (open 24/7) – 0800 611 116 Samaritans (open 24/7) – 0800 726
666
Suicide Crisis Helpline (open 24/7) –
0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or concerned about family or friends. Youthline (open 24/7) – 0800 376
633.