Meth and mental illness: What Tauranga social workers see on the frontline

A Tauranga iwi group says more help is needed to cope with addiction and mental health in the community. Carmen Hall from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Trust writes about the growing concerns and the “battle to get support”.

More people with “severe” mental health issues and drug addictions are turning to social workers as overburdened specialised services struggle to cope, a Tauranga iwi service provider says.

Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley said the two went hand in hand and rising use of methamphetamine had intensified the problem.

“A lot of our people have chemical-induced mental health issues caused by drug addiction, which is primarily driven by methamphetamine. Recent wastewater testing shows New Zealand consumed meth at the highest levels ever recorded.”

Last year, Ngāi Te Rangi’s Mauritau unit saw a spike in meth addiction and higher-level mental health and trauma cases. It supported 184 people, up from 166 in 2023.

Stanley said drug, alcohol and mental health services were hamstrung by a lack of funding, lack of qualified staff and an avalanche of people seeking help.

“A lot of particularly Māori and non-government organisations are hitting the wall and until you solve all of those reasons in its entirety, it’s just going to get worse.”

The Government has set a workforce target of training 500 mental health and addiction professionals annually.

Te Whatu Ora Health NZ told NZME it recognised there were inconsistencies in services in Tauranga, and it was working to strengthen the “connected continuum of care”.

‘Chasing our tails’

Ngāi Te Rangi Oranga Whānau social worker Violet Davidson said many of her mental health clients required significant help and wraparound services.

In her 24 years of experience, the issues had escalated and secondary health care services were “backlogged”.

Depression, anxiety, stress and suicide were rampant in the community, driven by poverty, trauma, intergenerational and social factors.

Ngāi Te Rangi Oranga Whānau social worker Violet Davidson.

“These are very challenging times and some of those who are presenting need more in-depth or specialised treatment. They have severe problems.

“We’re trying to provide interventions or preventions but at times it feels like we are chasing our tails and have missed the boat.”

For example, some referrals for specialised treatment were declined, with people “pushed back to their GP”.

She often worked with entire families to address dysfunction stemming from multiple issues.

Ngāi Te Rangi Oranga Whānau supervisor and social worker Glenn Shee said there were fewer addiction services available despite more people needing help.

“It is getting worse.”

He said Ngāi Te Rangi would not turn anyone away and it was taking referrals from organisations it had not traditionally worked with.

Ngāi Te Rangi Oranga Whānau supervisor and social worker Glenn Shee.

To him, the future looked bleak for those trapped in addiction.

Shee was also concerned about social workers burning out as workloads increased. Study and employment criteria could work against people with criminal records who wanted to qualify as social workers.

The former drug addict, who had been clean for more than 15 years, said those with life experiences similar to their clients often found it easier to break down barriers – and were living proof of life beyond addiction.

Recent Social Workers Registration Board workforce reports showed more social workers were leaving the profession than entering, student numbers were the lowest since 2013, and hundreds of social workers planned to retire or leave due to high workload or burnout in the next few years.

‘Battle’ to get people support

Ngāi Te Rangi social worker Patrick Mitchell, 65, is retiring after 23 years in the industry.

He found his niche in mental health but said the “battle to get support for those people is real and proving more difficult”.

In his view, the move away from residential care had overwhelmed community mental health services.

“I think they [mental health services] are looking for behavioural problems, not mental health, so they can say ‘those people don’t belong here’.”

Ngāi Te Rangi social worker Patrick Mitchell was retiring after 23 years in the industry.

Mitchell said dealing with whānau with mental health issues was “stressful and confronting”, and more training and support was needed to help workers feel confident and comfortable.

Five years ago, Ngāi Te Rangi Oranga Whānau kaimahi (worker) Aaron de Ridder was in jail.

The recidivist offender said his final rock bottom came when his mother and greatest supporter died when he was behind bars.

“I made a conscious decision then because I couldn’t be there for my mum, my family and my kids.”

Before prison, de Ridder was addicted to methamphetamine and any drugs he could get his hands on. His tribe was drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members and criminals.

Following his release, he lived at Tauranga transitional facility Takitimu House and completed an array of programmes before working with people with addictions.

Aaron de Ridder stayed at Takitimu House from March 2021 to July 2022. Photo / Megan Wilson

Methamphetamine was easier to get than cannabis, de Ridder said.

“It’s so cheap and readily available, which is crazy. When I started meth, it was a fulltime job to stay high because it was so expensive.

Drug use in Tauranga has been “bad for years”, he said, and those using meth came from all walks of life including professionals like lawyers and business executives.

In his opinion, the city needed its own residential drug rehabilitation centre.

“It’s absolutely stupid when we have one of the biggest capita of drug use in the country.”

Now de Ridder is on the Takitimu House board of trustees and is a member of the Kainga Tupu Taskforce, addressing homelessness in the Western Bay of Plenty. He is also studying to become an alcohol and other drugs clinician.

“I feel proud to give back to the community I took from for so many years and to support those people who are going through similar struggles.”

Te Whatu Ora Health NZ responds

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Bay of Plenty group director of operations, Pauline McGrath, acknowledged access to support, especially for addiction services, had been inconsistent in the region.

“We are working to design and strengthen a more connected continuum of care—from primary and community services through to supports for people with high and complex needs."

A new approach to regional planning aiming to ensure services were “tailored to community needs” would begin in the Bay of Plenty region soon.

A recent stocktake of mental health and addiction services found 43 contracted providers in Bay of Plenty and 136 across the Te Manawa Taki (Central North Island) health region.

The goal of this was to give Health NZ more visibility of service locations and gaps, and how to improve local access, especially to short and medium-term residential care.

“These insights will help inform how we better connect hospital specialist services, iwi, providers, and communities to improve access and outcomes in Tauranga and across the region.”

Residential treatment was available at Rotorua’s Te Whare Oranga Ngakau “through direct engagement with Ngai Te Rangi” for Tauranga residents.

The workforce issues were a “critical focus” - getting people with the right skills where they were needed.

Mental health service providers had access to workforce development and post-graduate training in mental health and addiction. There were also free online training resources that any social service provider could access through workforce centres.

- Additional reporting Samantha Motion

Editor’s note: This article was contributed by Carmen Hall, communications advisor for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Trust and former Bay of Plenty Times journalist. NZME sought comment in response from Te Whatu Ora Health NZ.