Mental Health in New Zealand

About 47% of New Zealanders will experience a mental illness and/or an addiction at some time in their lives, with one in five people affected within one year. The impact on the individual and their family will vary from person to person, and may be extensive. 

Mental illnesses that commonly require support and treatment include schizophrenia, manic depression (bipolar) illness, personality disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, addictions and drug-induced psychoses in the case of some people with drug addictions.

• There were 86,676 mental health clients seen in 2003

• Just over half of the clients seen in 2003 were male

• In 2003, 17.2 percent were Maori, 3.2 percent were Pacific people and 2.0 percent were Asian

• Maori had the highest age-standardised rate of clients seen for males (2725 per 100,000) and for females (2121 per 100,000)

In June 2005, the Government launched "Te Tahuhu – Improving Mental Health 2005-2015: The Second New Zealand Mental Health and Addiction Plan"

As a Plan for the mental wellbeing of all New Zealanders, Te Tahuhu signified a new era for mental health and addiction policy, providing a new sense of direction for the ongoing modernisation and continued development of the mental health and addiction sector. 

In a clear and unambiguous way, Te Tahuhu sets out the outcomes (results) that the Government wants to achieve for people who experience mental illness and/or have addictions, their families/whanau and friends, and all New Zealanders Te Tahuhu also identifies ten leading challenges in respect of the mental health and addiction sector which need to be met if the sector is to grow and thrive. 

Those challenges include broadening the range of services for people who are severely affected by mental illness; improving our understanding of Maori models of mental health and wellbeing; meeting the needs of an ethnically diverse society, and ensuring primary health care workers play their part in recognising early signs of mental illness and/or addiction.

In 2006, in order to ensure that Government priorities expressed in Te Tahuhu were put into action, the Government launched Te Kokiri: The Mental Health and Addiction Action Plan 2006-2015 . 

Te Kokiri sets the programme of action to be achieved so that we meet the outcomes that all New Zealanders want for people who use mental health and/or addiction services as well as for their families and whanau. 

The aim of Te Tahuhu and the action plan, Te Kokiri, is to encourage and assist both government and non-government (NGO) service providers to work more closely together, to jointly develop solutions to problems, and to work towards improving outcomes for people with experience of mental illness and/or addiction.