NZME’s Great Minds project will examine the state of our nation’s mental health and explore the growing impact mental health and anxiety has on Kiwis while searching for ways to improve it. Video / NZ Herald
For two years New Zealanders have been navigating through the fog of a global pandemic - impacting our lives personally, socially and professionally.
And while Covid has pushed a lot of social issues into the background, those problems haven't disappeared.
Right at the top of that list is how we'refeeling - our happiness and mental health.
The Herald and NZME have launched Great Minds, a major editorial project that will examine our mental health from a range of perspectives.
We are sharing personal stories, interactive features and wellbeing ideas to help our readers as we emerge from Covid and Omicron.
Critically, we will be offering solutions, including practical ideas on how New Zealanders can navigate out of that pandemic fog, back to a sense of wellbeing.
As part of that, we have devised this wellbeing interactive to help you gauge how you're doing.
Our quick interactive test is based on a questionnaire devised by the World Health Organisation. It does not collect any information from users.
The WHO-5 Wellbeing Index, developed in the 1990s, is a short five-item questionnaire that provides a quick measure of how people are feeling emotionally.
It is not detailed enough to diagnose a mental condition, but it allows researchers to track wellbeing across large groups of people.
It has become a standard tool around the world, often used in conjunction with other measures.
In New Zealand, various government departments and agencies have used the WHO-5 to track mental wellbeing. It was used in Christchurch after the 2010 earthquake to monitor the psychological consequences of the disaster.
The Mental Health Foundation has used the questionnaire to help track mental wellbeing at a national level.
"It's a really well-recognised tool and you can compare the results to many other similar studies," says Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.
Last week, the Herald reported that data collected by the Mental Health Foundation using the WHO-5 index, through polling conducted by IPSOS, shows the proportion of Kiwis struggling with poor emotional wellbeing has risen steadily during the pandemic.
In the latest polling, 36 per cent of those surveyed had a low wellbeing score, up from 25 per cent in December 2020, when the research was first conducted. Robinson says the increase is significant and concerning, because more people are at risk of developing a serious mental condition.
Psychotherapist and Great Minds columnist Kyle MacDonald says the questionnaire is useful for readers too.
"Sometimes it can be hard to be objective about how we're doing emotionally," he says. "This is where screens and questionnaires can be helpful. They offer us some suggestions to think about and a few moments to reflect on, 'How am I really doing?'
"Those few questions can help you to check in with yourself - especially if you feel like something's off."
Over the coming weeks and months, we will look at how the trends in mental health are affecting us in various ways, from our working lives to how we raise our kids. We'll provide our audience with constructive ideas to help make sense of the challenging times we're living through.
To follow the full Great Minds series, click here.
WHERE TO GET HELP
If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.
