Great Minds: Jo Raphael: Government needs to address mental health 'crisis' compounded by Covid

OPINION

There's a pandemic impacting our lives, and unlike Covid, it's one we rarely talk about.

Like many other illnesses, it's got its own official awareness week. But it has to compete for attention and fundraising with the big guns - cancer (breast, prostate, cervical, bowel), diabetes, glaucoma, plus many other diseases, all equally deserving of our notice.

The culprit is the country's mental health crisis - a crisis is how some experts are describing it.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were dedicated to tackling its prevalence in the Government's Wellbeing Budget in 2019 - the year before the Covid pandemic kicked off.

The Government budgeted for a new frontline service for mental health with a $455 million programme providing access for 325,000 people by 2023/24.

While I know we can't technically classify mental health issues as a pandemic, it's something that affects more people than we may think.

I'm willing to bet we all know someone who's been affected by a mental health condition.

I personally have not met anyone who has come through Covid as yet unscathed.

I believe many of us fall somewhere on the spectrum between two categories: Coping fairly well; or barely coping.

Not many of us have come through this pandemic unscathed, writes Jo Raphael. Photo / Getty Images (photo posed by model)

And it's a fine line between the two. It just takes one or two things to set off a domino effect that cascades into despair.

This is what happened to Rotorua woman Sharon Grinter whose mental health spiralled when the pandemic hit.

Grinter courageously spoke out as part of Great Minds, a major NZ Herald and NZME editorial project launched yesterday.

The project will examine the state of our mental health and solutions for improving wellbeing as the country recovers from the pandemic.

The project comes as new research shows the number of New Zealanders struggling with mental health problems rose sharply during the Covid-19 outbreak, prompting calls from leading health figures for an urgent national recovery plan.

Polling for the Mental Health Foundation found 36 per cent of people surveyed were experiencing poor emotional wellbeing, up from 27 per cent a year ago.

A "perfect storm" of setbacks brought Grinter to her lowest point. These included the cancellation of a cruising holiday with her two daughters, worries for her children and parents, and having to work long hours as an essential worker during lockdown.

But after seeking help and being put on medication, Grinter said she had been feeling better.

It was also reaching out for help that allowed Tauranga teenager Frankie to make positive change in her life and learn to deal with the anxiety she had struggled with from the age of 8.

For Great Minds, she told NZME about how enrolling in a confidence and resilience building programme had helped her feel supported and in control.

She hoped her story would help others avoid what she went through last year.

"A lot of people think you have to get to the darkest place ever to get any help. I want people to know there is an option out there."

Health leaders including from the Mental Health Foundation, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists warn that New Zealand was already struggling to cope with mental health challenges before Covid.

"What we have is a crisis on top of a crisis, because mental health was already in a crisis," says Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.

"This is adding significant additional pressure. And it needs an additional response."

Experts have urged the Government to put mental health at the centre of its post-pandemic plans, including a commitment to provide substantial new funding in next month's Budget.

I agree.

The Government is due to present its Budget for 2022 on May 19, just under a month away.

Let's hope Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has considered this health crisis as much as the Covid recovery plan.