Disabled people experience far higher rates of psychological distress, yet remain largely invisible in the plans, targets and systems designed to improve mental health.
Bex - as you clearly highlight here, the current coalition government appears wilfully blind, lacking in political will and siloed in their thinking. To my mind, this increases the risk of fragmentation, and of people falling through the cracks because they simply do not feature in government strategies, targets and plans.
I get that Ministers Louise Upston (Ministry of Social Development and Disability Issues), Simeon Brown (Health), and Matt Doocey (Mental Health) will be busy people. They receive significant money for the responsibility of being a MP and Cabinet Minister. Like all people working to do a job, they should earn the money they receive. I’m waiting for them to lift their game but continue to be mightily disappointed. In Louise Upston’s case, all I see her doing is parroting repetitive talking points.
If I want to listen to a parrot, there are many mobs of them here in Australia where my partner and I live and work because NZ lost her due to the actions of the newly-elected National-led coalition government.
Cockatoos, magpies, tūīs…birds and creatures of all kinds communicate with one another! “Which direction will we fly next?!?”
Have these government ministers actually talked with one another about policy, strategies, targets and plans? Effective dialogue can bring about solutions that prove governments can in fact do their very best to govern for all citizens.
Does it matter if we do not make the time and effort to engage in dialogue? YES! It matters hugely. The lack of recognition and diminishing of culture (of care-giving, disability, wellbeing, Māori, Pacifica…) by the current coalition government continues to disturb me.
Trapped by their caged norms and relentless retelling of the ‘austerity’ story and insistence upon reducing government spending relative to GDP (having already spent hugely on tax cuts for a few), they have painted themselves into a corner. Pride, arrogance, incompetence combined with an incessant itch to manage (with a correspondingly disturbing unwillingness to listen), and an insistence that they must win the contest of ideas (even with a total lack of effective leadership) are features of their continued bumbling and missteps.
As a qualified psychologist and first ever Minister for Mental Health in Aotearoa, I wonder how Matt Doocey can reconcile being part of a government that removed measures of wellbeing?!? I’d like to look him in the eye and engage in a face-to face conversation about that single topic for at least an hour! Of course he’d be reluctant and resistant to doing so.
As a NZ citizen, taxpayer and active participant in our democracy, I expect better from our elected representatives.
But first, they would need to release themselves from their self-imposed prison. And voters, tax payers, citizens cannot do that work for them.
If the government chooses not to govern for all citizens, do they deserve to be in government at all?
Thanks Brian. I feel a bit like I've spent 3 years yelling into the void, endlessly submitting on things and sharing data and information, all to go backwards as fast as National can take us. It's been deeply demoralising and disheartening work. There is an entrenched short-term attitude with this government that fails to account for the reality of peoples lives. Still, we do our best hey?
I can only imagine how frustrating this must feel - knowing what you know.
I so appreciate your steady, persistent perseverance Bex.
I was lucky to meet American writer, teacher and living treasure Margaret (Meg) Wheatley back on 21 November 2014, in Wellington. Meg led a brilliant and inspiring workshop on ‘Community is the Answer’ facilitated through the efforts of Inspiring Communities.
Meg is a gifted teacher/presenter and her many books delve deeply into how we persevere in an imperfect world. It’s well worth looking her up. Dr Wheatley is co-founder of the Berkana Institute, a non-profit organisation established to foster resilient communities.
I did not attend but Meg also presented at ImagineBetter Assemblies - two-day events which were held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from 9 to 17 November 2015, focusing on the theme Connections, Community, Citizenship. Did you get to hear her at the Auckland or Wellington event?
Your steadiness in the face of so much wilful blindness, tone deafness and lack of political will…I find similarly inspiring.
Its even simpler and easier than community, it starts with us individually being the change we want to see in the world. Rippling out like little waves.
Changing the paradigm from fear to love.
Debunking and throwing off old corporate ideology.
Individuals without social connections (community) hopefully won’t be ripping into ‘being the change we want to see in the world’ and becoming unwell?
I mention this for in my view, people who are isolated and lack connections are prime contenders for burning out; pushing themselves way too hard. I’ve met many of them. Good people. With good intentions.
Community need not be complex or hard to achieve or experience, however it reminds us that our health and wellbeing is inextricably linked to others. Considering others means the waves we ripple upon are part of the same ocean.
All time levels of poor mental illness following the Fauci show ( covid19) with govt's social isolation and "fear of others" memes for 2 years. Followed by media stress that took its toll and now those that contributed and caused the problems want to develop strategies to make govt look better.
I dont think labels help people they can hold a temporary condition or an unhealed truama in place.
The govt moves on medical system's globalization unhelpful technology like ai even when ai with its hallucinations and corporate programming is not a good tool for mental health service users.The govt dont even understand the cause of addiction it sounds like they are planning on doing a crackdown on the mentally unwell. Call me a realist or skeptic ai will conclude they are not unwell.
I know non disabled people depressed for decades in the govts mental health system treated seeing psychologists psychiatrists drugs prescribed etc. ineffective .
Ive found the words spoken by govt (PR) are empty.
Look at how the govt meets its arbitrary targets in medicine it makes up despicable things like not diagnosing,delaying diagnoses and bed blocking. Not Ok, its pathological thinking .
Re"flattening out of who we are like this is deserving of a separate post". For me the "Henry Bennett" incident highlights the dangers of the universal 'one size fits all' approach to many of NZ's grass roots services delivery. It's incredible that only one person, a nurse, noticed something wrong and was ignored, amongst how many 'trained professionals' involved? It's across most public and private service delivery, especially in major contracted essential service provision, such as hospitals, mass transit services etc. In that workplace environment, individuals and work teams can develop toxic cultures which fly under the radar, surfacing as individual critical incidents, often centered around delivering services to people who find it difficult to have a voice in current systems, eg someone living with a uncoordinated nervous system impairment being mistaken for being drugged or drunk, and treated accordingly is common and distressing, and often happens because service personnel develop a 'fixed' mindset on these matters. In this environment service delivery which does deliver services with sensitivity stands out, but should not be the exception.
That said the 'Henry Bennett' incident is what happens when the 'gotyas' bite. Those 'gotyas' have devastating consequences for NZers in every day life. Yes people can get on the treadmill of making formal complaints etc, but what might be more helpful is a follow up victim support system that goes along with the complaints process; which of course is absolutely what is NOT provided. Probably because such a program would be highly unpopular amongst service personnel and contracting businesses alike. Right now they're getting away with; like -oops-thanks for bringing this to our attention-we'll do better next time-sorry about that-have a nice life -Bye.....
What could happen instead is a automatic funded formal victim focused support process follow up; a bit like Restorative Justice, built into complaints and followup processes rather than the focus on blame seeking and scalp hunting. People are human, they make 'mistakes' but that should not be an excuse, as it is now, to hold a pearl-twisting and hand-wringing feist about the consequences of those mistakes, which creates a lot of resentment, helping nobody, and moving on.
This also might have to be included in standard service provision contracts so that service providers are aware of what went wrong and front up. There's heaps going on like this in NZ, but often the consequences of a formal complaint are that the service contractors protect the work team, and maybe hand out some form of 'discipline' to the worker who made a 'mistake'. But often, the outcomes of these processes are not shared because they are covered under workplace privacy regulations. The services providers themselves are not usually required to front up or correct their protocols to prevent a repeat of what are often critical incidents for the victims.
🙇 Excellent article as usual even if alarming with regards to the lack of recognition of the challenges of a significant part of the population (& their whanau). Like most, I have friends & whanau who face always having an ongoing need for extra support of one kind or another to live quality lives & make their unique contributions to what makes a caring sharing society worth being a part of. Same goes for the "hidden" health issues of temporary or ongoing mental distress, neuro-diversity, learning difficulties etc etc, - although there may be COST to providing support, there is a much greater cost to NOT - obvious to all except those with neither empathy nor an understanding of how a successful & well adjusted society works. In addition, it adds up economically for those who view everything in $$$ terms, as many articles I have read over the years argue convincingly 🫂
Bex - as you clearly highlight here, the current coalition government appears wilfully blind, lacking in political will and siloed in their thinking. To my mind, this increases the risk of fragmentation, and of people falling through the cracks because they simply do not feature in government strategies, targets and plans.
I get that Ministers Louise Upston (Ministry of Social Development and Disability Issues), Simeon Brown (Health), and Matt Doocey (Mental Health) will be busy people. They receive significant money for the responsibility of being a MP and Cabinet Minister. Like all people working to do a job, they should earn the money they receive. I’m waiting for them to lift their game but continue to be mightily disappointed. In Louise Upston’s case, all I see her doing is parroting repetitive talking points.
If I want to listen to a parrot, there are many mobs of them here in Australia where my partner and I live and work because NZ lost her due to the actions of the newly-elected National-led coalition government.
Cockatoos, magpies, tūīs…birds and creatures of all kinds communicate with one another! “Which direction will we fly next?!?”
Have these government ministers actually talked with one another about policy, strategies, targets and plans? Effective dialogue can bring about solutions that prove governments can in fact do their very best to govern for all citizens.
Does it matter if we do not make the time and effort to engage in dialogue? YES! It matters hugely. The lack of recognition and diminishing of culture (of care-giving, disability, wellbeing, Māori, Pacifica…) by the current coalition government continues to disturb me.
Trapped by their caged norms and relentless retelling of the ‘austerity’ story and insistence upon reducing government spending relative to GDP (having already spent hugely on tax cuts for a few), they have painted themselves into a corner. Pride, arrogance, incompetence combined with an incessant itch to manage (with a correspondingly disturbing unwillingness to listen), and an insistence that they must win the contest of ideas (even with a total lack of effective leadership) are features of their continued bumbling and missteps.
As a qualified psychologist and first ever Minister for Mental Health in Aotearoa, I wonder how Matt Doocey can reconcile being part of a government that removed measures of wellbeing?!? I’d like to look him in the eye and engage in a face-to face conversation about that single topic for at least an hour! Of course he’d be reluctant and resistant to doing so.
As a NZ citizen, taxpayer and active participant in our democracy, I expect better from our elected representatives.
But first, they would need to release themselves from their self-imposed prison. And voters, tax payers, citizens cannot do that work for them.
If the government chooses not to govern for all citizens, do they deserve to be in government at all?
Thanks Brian. I feel a bit like I've spent 3 years yelling into the void, endlessly submitting on things and sharing data and information, all to go backwards as fast as National can take us. It's been deeply demoralising and disheartening work. There is an entrenched short-term attitude with this government that fails to account for the reality of peoples lives. Still, we do our best hey?
I can only imagine how frustrating this must feel - knowing what you know.
I so appreciate your steady, persistent perseverance Bex.
I was lucky to meet American writer, teacher and living treasure Margaret (Meg) Wheatley back on 21 November 2014, in Wellington. Meg led a brilliant and inspiring workshop on ‘Community is the Answer’ facilitated through the efforts of Inspiring Communities.
Meg is a gifted teacher/presenter and her many books delve deeply into how we persevere in an imperfect world. It’s well worth looking her up. Dr Wheatley is co-founder of the Berkana Institute, a non-profit organisation established to foster resilient communities.
I did not attend but Meg also presented at ImagineBetter Assemblies - two-day events which were held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from 9 to 17 November 2015, focusing on the theme Connections, Community, Citizenship. Did you get to hear her at the Auckland or Wellington event?
Your steadiness in the face of so much wilful blindness, tone deafness and lack of political will…I find similarly inspiring.
Take care of you
Its even simpler and easier than community, it starts with us individually being the change we want to see in the world. Rippling out like little waves.
Changing the paradigm from fear to love.
Debunking and throwing off old corporate ideology.
Nicely said 🙏
Although he died several years ago, the wisdom offered by Australian Michael Leunig survives. Here is one of his little gems titled ‘Love and Fear’:
Michael Leunig - “love and fear”
There are only two feelings:
Love and fear.
There are only two languages:
Love and fear.
There are only two activities:
Love and fear.
There are only two motives; two procedures; two frameworks; two results:
Love and fear.
Love and fear.
Beautiful.
And its so simple but people with minds corrupted by fear and the complex convoluted Orwellian political narratives they dont trust the simple.
Yes indeed every moment we only have on choice and that is between what is real Love and fear .
Love or fear
Response or reactivity.
Right view or wrong view.
Individuals without social connections (community) hopefully won’t be ripping into ‘being the change we want to see in the world’ and becoming unwell?
I mention this for in my view, people who are isolated and lack connections are prime contenders for burning out; pushing themselves way too hard. I’ve met many of them. Good people. With good intentions.
Community need not be complex or hard to achieve or experience, however it reminds us that our health and wellbeing is inextricably linked to others. Considering others means the waves we ripple upon are part of the same ocean.
Says a mental health worker turned bus driver 🙂
“Raven, Teach Me to Ride the Winds of Change
Perch where the wind comes at you full force.
Let it blow you apart till your feathers fly off and you look like hell.
Then abandon yourself.
The wind is not your enemy.
Nothing in life is.
Go where the wind takes you
higher, lower, backwards.
The wind to carry you forward will find you when you are ready.
When you can bear it.”
(Margaret Wheatley)
All time levels of poor mental illness following the Fauci show ( covid19) with govt's social isolation and "fear of others" memes for 2 years. Followed by media stress that took its toll and now those that contributed and caused the problems want to develop strategies to make govt look better.
I dont think labels help people they can hold a temporary condition or an unhealed truama in place.
The govt moves on medical system's globalization unhelpful technology like ai even when ai with its hallucinations and corporate programming is not a good tool for mental health service users.The govt dont even understand the cause of addiction it sounds like they are planning on doing a crackdown on the mentally unwell. Call me a realist or skeptic ai will conclude they are not unwell.
I know non disabled people depressed for decades in the govts mental health system treated seeing psychologists psychiatrists drugs prescribed etc. ineffective .
Ive found the words spoken by govt (PR) are empty.
Look at how the govt meets its arbitrary targets in medicine it makes up despicable things like not diagnosing,delaying diagnoses and bed blocking. Not Ok, its pathological thinking .
Re"flattening out of who we are like this is deserving of a separate post". For me the "Henry Bennett" incident highlights the dangers of the universal 'one size fits all' approach to many of NZ's grass roots services delivery. It's incredible that only one person, a nurse, noticed something wrong and was ignored, amongst how many 'trained professionals' involved? It's across most public and private service delivery, especially in major contracted essential service provision, such as hospitals, mass transit services etc. In that workplace environment, individuals and work teams can develop toxic cultures which fly under the radar, surfacing as individual critical incidents, often centered around delivering services to people who find it difficult to have a voice in current systems, eg someone living with a uncoordinated nervous system impairment being mistaken for being drugged or drunk, and treated accordingly is common and distressing, and often happens because service personnel develop a 'fixed' mindset on these matters. In this environment service delivery which does deliver services with sensitivity stands out, but should not be the exception.
That said the 'Henry Bennett' incident is what happens when the 'gotyas' bite. Those 'gotyas' have devastating consequences for NZers in every day life. Yes people can get on the treadmill of making formal complaints etc, but what might be more helpful is a follow up victim support system that goes along with the complaints process; which of course is absolutely what is NOT provided. Probably because such a program would be highly unpopular amongst service personnel and contracting businesses alike. Right now they're getting away with; like -oops-thanks for bringing this to our attention-we'll do better next time-sorry about that-have a nice life -Bye.....
What could happen instead is a automatic funded formal victim focused support process follow up; a bit like Restorative Justice, built into complaints and followup processes rather than the focus on blame seeking and scalp hunting. People are human, they make 'mistakes' but that should not be an excuse, as it is now, to hold a pearl-twisting and hand-wringing feist about the consequences of those mistakes, which creates a lot of resentment, helping nobody, and moving on.
This also might have to be included in standard service provision contracts so that service providers are aware of what went wrong and front up. There's heaps going on like this in NZ, but often the consequences of a formal complaint are that the service contractors protect the work team, and maybe hand out some form of 'discipline' to the worker who made a 'mistake'. But often, the outcomes of these processes are not shared because they are covered under workplace privacy regulations. The services providers themselves are not usually required to front up or correct their protocols to prevent a repeat of what are often critical incidents for the victims.
🙇 Excellent article as usual even if alarming with regards to the lack of recognition of the challenges of a significant part of the population (& their whanau). Like most, I have friends & whanau who face always having an ongoing need for extra support of one kind or another to live quality lives & make their unique contributions to what makes a caring sharing society worth being a part of. Same goes for the "hidden" health issues of temporary or ongoing mental distress, neuro-diversity, learning difficulties etc etc, - although there may be COST to providing support, there is a much greater cost to NOT - obvious to all except those with neither empathy nor an understanding of how a successful & well adjusted society works. In addition, it adds up economically for those who view everything in $$$ terms, as many articles I have read over the years argue convincingly 🫂
Re my comment a few days ago..... FYI from Sandra Fuller Guest writer Spinnoff
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/21-07-2026/survivors-trust-in-police-has-taken-another-blow-if-its-to-be-rebuilt-what-happens-next-is-crucial
Any idea where I could download a copy of ‘a mental health guide for leaders’? Thanks.
I did link in the piece, sorry that it wasn't obvious! Link: https://www.healthandsafety.govt.nz/a-z-topics/mentally-healthy-work/resources/a-mental-health-guide-for-new-zealand-leaders