Mike King is a straight-up sort of guy. He calls a spade a spade. I don’t know him well, but whenever I’ve spent time with him his authenticity has radiated from his heart.
King cares about mental health. He cares about saving lives. He cares about people. And he won’t waste his time with buck-passing and, as he calls it, “butt-covering”. Not when inaction means that people will die.
That’s the harsh truth when it comes to mental health. When the Government doesn’t step up, people die.
When struggling Kiwis follow the official advice and go to hospitals with suicidal thoughts only to be sent home a few hours later, people die.
When vulnerable kids are too ashamed to reach out and ask for help, people die. Families lose loved ones. Communities lose valuable members.
New Zealanders lose their futures because they fell through a net that was supposed to catch them before it was too late.
This week, King slammed the Ministry of Health over its new Suicide Prevention Strategy – a strategy that didn’t actually name any clear target in suicide reduction.
It used lots of nice words about pathways and healthy futures, combined with a peppering of te reo proverbs and concepts and some pretty graphics in calming shades of blue and green, but the target the advisory board had apparently agreed upon – a 20 per cent reduction in suicides over the next 10 years – was nowhere to be seen.
It had somehow disappeared, taking with it the benchmark against which to measure the success of the plan. Read into that what you will.
I can understand why King is angry. When you’ve stared down the barrel of suicide, the word tends to stand out any time you see it.
When you hear stories about people who’ve taken their own lives, it can feel like an electric shock running through your core. When someone close to you makes that terrible decision it affects you deeply.
If only they could’ve just held on a little longer, you think. Then comes the guilty, melancholic, grief-stricken sense of gratitude – it could’ve been me. Continue reading
- Lizzie Marvelly is a musician, writer and activist, she writes columns for Weekend Herald. She was judged best general opinion writer at the Canon Media Awards last week.
For counselling and support
- Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time
- Lifeline – 0800 543 354
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- Chinese Lifeline – 0800 888 880
(for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese) - Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
(for young people, and their parents, whānau and friends) - What’s Up – 0800 942 8787
(for 5–18 year olds; 1 pm to 11 pm) - The Lowdown – visit the website, email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626 (emails and text messages will be responded to between 12 noon and 12 midnight)
- SPARX – an online self-help tool that teaches young people the key skills needed to help combat depression and anxiety.