No time to waste or more lives will be lost

There was the bridge, the bones and the boy who just disappeared. By the time I left high school, I’d fielded panicked calls searching for missing friends in distress. I’d seen people shrivel as anorexia took grip, and disappear from school for days or weeks as their anxiety and depression intensified. By the end of it, when the teachers said not one word about the death of a classmate, they were being cruelly sensitive. We all knew he had killed himself.

I consider myself an incredibly lucky person. For one, I’ve never had to deal with serious mental health issues of my own. As well, the only friend I’ve ever spoken to as they’ve contemplated suicide is still alive. And, through a few years reporting, I’ve heard stories of lonely, heartwrenching suffering the likes of which I can barely imagine.

We’ve known for a long time that our mental health system is not fit for purpose. More than 2000 people submitted, in person, as part of the Government’s Mental Health Inquiry. The findings, released on Tuesday, call for major changes in the way we deal with mental health care.

The report authors want a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, better support for charities working in the sector, and other changes to make help services easier to access.

All of these recommendations, and there are 40 in total, will need money. Health Minister David Clark says funding will not be confirmed until May, when the Budget is released.

This is a rare issue, in which I think everyone can agree the Government must do as much as possible to subdue what is a crisis.

The chilling reality of a system in crisis will have touched every one of us.

At the sharp end of the crisis, our national suicide rate has shown four years of steady increases. In the year to June, the number of people who have taken their lives was the highest since records began.

It’s the worst it’s ever been. An average of 56 people died by suicide each month. By May, when the Budget for mental health is released, it is possible that 280 people may have taken their lives.

The report is clear – an immediate focus must be put on helping the 3 per cent of New Zealanders with urgent needs. However, it says one in five – or 20 per cent – of us are dealing with mental health or addiction issues every year.

What for them?

Just 3.7 per cent of the population accesses specialist mental health services, according to the report. And even then, there’s a question of how much those services can provide.

I’ve spoken with people in serious, urgent need of specialist care who have asked for help but been left in the lurch.

In tears, a young victim of sexual assault told me how she felt ‘‘worthless’’ having to wait for almost a year and a half for help. ‘‘There’s a false promise that you’ll get help. It’s great on paper,’’ she said. The long wait had been detrimental, she said, and led to revictimisation. ‘‘A lot of the immediate issues that could have been resolved in the early days.’’

Faced with this obvious and unignorable crisis, the Government has talked often about ‘‘long-term fixes’’.

Training staff to work in the mental health sector, for instance, will take time.

But some things can be done, now.

The report backed the National Party’s torpedoed initiative to pair paramedics and police when they’re responding to mental health callouts. It also argued for a better range of services, including e-therapy – which was a focus of the last government. Funding should be restored for these initiatives immediately.

The report is clear – an immediate focus must be put on helping the three per cent of New Zealanders with urgent needs.

Even the report does not pretend that it will be possible to suddenly help the 20 per cent of Kiwis dealing with mental health issues, and their wha¯ nau, all at once. We also know that schools aren’t prepared, and aren’t coping, when it comes to mental health challenges.

Schools must be better equipped. We know that, for many people, high schools and intermediates will be where they first encounter serious mental health challenges of their own. They’ll be the places where, at one point, people will be called on to help a friend in need.

The reality is, I don’t think any of us were prepared for that at 13, 15, or even 18.

With the first line of help not due until May, the least this Government can do is invest in schools. The Ministry of Education raised flags about the growing demand for guidance counsellors.

If we can, at bare minimum, teach young people about mental health, then hopefully the long wait for help won’t be so painful.

Going by the report’s findings, there’s still 16.3 per cent of us in need of some assistance.