After another battering from severe weather, there's increased focus on helping New Zealanders manage their anxiety around these events. Reporter Simon Mercep spoke to Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, about the dangers of climate anxiety, and what can be done about it.
How well do you think New Zealanders are responding to these repeated severe weather events?
I think we're responding as best we can. In the grip of the disaster, people are just coping with the immediate, and often pulling together to do that. And actually, the evidence is that people's mental health usually is strong at those times because of that sense of getting through.
The real danger time is maybe a month, six weeks, two months afterwards, when people realise things are never going to go back to the way they were before. Perhaps that sense of working together has started to fall away, and people are left to their own devices. That's when people's mental wellbeing can really get challenged.
After the flooding in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle, we did some research and what came back very clearly was that what really boosted people and allowed them to be resilient through all of that cycle was staying connected, staying connected to whanau, to community, keeping that sense of we're all in this together
So anxiety over climate change is a real thing?
Oh, absolutely it is. And it's a key issue that comes up in counselling for young people over and over again.
What are the risks that these type of events can cause long-term serious damage to someone's mental health?
I think a traumatic event can have long-lasting impacts if people are not supported. Thankfully there are a relatively small number of people who have had deeply traumatic impacts. We don't really need counselling for every person in a whole community. We might need kind of that intensive response for people who've been very closely affected. What we need for communities is that strong reinforcement of stay connected, keep supporting one another.
I've got links to the Hawkes Bay and about six months after Cyclone Gabrielle, one of my neighbours said we need to have a neighbourhood barbeque and just see how people are going. And that was exactly the right thing, We need to keep doing that.
The government has funded local coordinators on the ground in the regions affected in recent weeks to try and coordinate that kind of thing. They've also funded us to relaunch the All Sorts campaign, through radio and through social media, giving people tips and hints about ways they can boost their mental health.
Do you see room for more government funding or more government resources to help people further?
I think there's always a need for more, and these weather events don't stop.
There is a real challenge in New Zealand about sufficient access to specific mental health services and support, regardless of these kind of natural disasters. We've got a long way to go to fill those gaps. But I do acknowledge that the Minister for Mental Health, Minister Doocey, has set targets, and we are starting to see some positive change. For example, we are starting to see more people coming into the mental health workforce.
You mention the need to stay connected with your community, but in terms of the professional help that's available, do we have enough experienced, skilled mental health people in the workforce to grow out there and meet the need?
No we don't, and particularly in the area of youth mental health, we don't.
How far short are we?
I don't want to put a number on it, but a long way. And quite frankly, it's going to take a number of years to get there. But I think all governments of whatever colour or persuasion are really only just starting to come to grips with how big an issue it is.
People haven't understood the nature of mental health. They've underestimated the number of people that are impacted by poor mental health. They've misunderstood the need to support communities to boost things that protect people's mental health.
And therefore they've underfunded it for decades and decades. And so that means we are really coming from behind.
If we don't get this right, what's the risk to New Zealand?
It's a risk all around the world because you need a healthy people to be in relationships, to be raising children, to form trusting strong bonds in communities. All of those things make our economy, our communities, our families work better.
So if we don't get on top of nearly 25% of our young people experiencing mental distress, that is not a strong sign for our economy or our society going forward. So having the community resilience, the individual resilience and the support infrastructure around us for that is a critical part of New Zealand's future.
You mentioned the All Sorts campaign, what does that do?
It's really encouraging people to stay connected, to keep doing the things that build up their mental health. And it's giving them information about where to go to get specific mental health support if they need it.
Such as what?
Like Youthline, the telehealth support service. Like 1737, which is a free phone or text mental health support service. And go see your GP and your GP can help with referrals.
The key thing is, are your symptoms becoming prolonged? Is it really becoming a barrier to your day-to-day activity? And if you're concerned about somebody, I always say, trust your gut, and just ask them, how are you? Do you think you might need some support? Can I walk alongside you to access that support? Can I call the number for you? Can I go to the doctor with you?
And people can go to the Allsorts website where there's lots of tips and hints and resources available there. They can also to the Mental Health Foundation website.
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