Last week the 15th data report of Child and Youth Mortality was released. The report identified that the most common causes of deaths in the five-year period for children and youth were suicide, transportation, cancers, and Sudden Infant Death in Infancy (SUDI). Between 2015-2019, 2,666 tamariki and rangatahi lives were lost in Aotearoa. We must do better.
Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week (#MHAWNZ) here in Aotearoa. Mental health impacts every part of our lives, including in the workplace. As we generally spend more than a third of our time awake in work-related activities, mental health awareness in the workplace is particularly important.
There are all sorts of ways to help keep us well - from being active, eating well, and doing meditation, to connecting with others and giving your time.
One thing that helps me are my pets! I have two cats and a dog who bring me immense joy and comfort. There is a lot to be said for the benefits of the human-animal bond. My pets can be a welcome distraction and help reduce my anxiety and stress levels.
Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori
The language is the heart and soul of the mana of Māoridom
Māori Language Moment (https://www.reoMāori.co.nz/) on the 14th of Mahuru (September) is only one of the activities to help promote and strengthen te reo Māori. But why would we want to do this? Isn’t Māori a dead language and one that is not really useful?
Aoake te Rā is a Ministry of Health funded service being rolled out across the country to support individuals and whānau who have lost loved ones to suicide.
Te Rau Ora and The Centre for Māori Suicide Prevention have recently released the Manaaki Ora app, an app that has been designed to support wellness for whānau and individuals.
The app provides self-help guidance and tips for supporting yourself or a loved one when distressed or going through a tough time. The app is well designed and has simple but creative activities for improving wellbeing and resilience.
Yesterday, Ben Te Maro (TWB Clinical Advisor, Māori Rōpū member, and all around great guy) chatted with Voices of Hope about keeping well during our current lockdown. To watch the video, click here https://www.instagram.com/tv/CS8j1Mlh3uX/
Last month we had Men’s Health Week in Aotearoa; a week to celebrate men, and to highlight the challenges men face in terms of their health. This week often covers somewhat uncomfortable topics like prostate exams (Welcome - Men's Health Week (menshealthweek.co.nz)), that men are more likely to die from cardiac disease and that men are more likely to get diabetes than women. Men are also less likely to get help for their difficulties than women; meaning that they are less likely to detect problems early and get early intervention.
Are digital platforms all they are promised to be?
Digital healthcare and wellbeing platforms have exploded over the last decade so that there now appears to be an app or platform for just about anything. Workplace wellbeing is no exception and in Aotearoa alone, there are several platforms and companies offering wellbeing tools for the workplace. Here are some important things to consider when exploring different tools, platforms and approaches to wellbeing.
Bullying: a significant predictor of poor mental health
Friday 21st of May, 2021 is Pink Shirt Day. A day to recognise the impact of bullying and to help empower people to speak up against bullying. Bullying is a deliberate act with the intention to cause harm to another. Whilst bullying can be a one-off act, it often involves repetitive acts of harm towards another person. Bullying significantly impacts wellbeing and can increase the risk of suicide through the bullied individual feeling disconnected, ostracised and worthless.
In the past 10 years, 156 people in New Zealand have died in railway fatalities and 60 more have sustained serious injuries [1]. Whilst not all of these are suicides and exact number of railway suicides are not available in New Zealand, suicidal behaviour is a significant contributor to railway deaths and injuries. In Australia, it estimated that between 150-200 people die by rail suicides per year.
This week (16-22nd of November) is Transgender Awareness Week in Aotearoa: a week to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness to the issues faced by transgender (trans) people nationwide.
So why do we need to raise awareness?
Today is Pink Shirt Day in Aotearoa – a day celebrated internationally with the aim of raising awareness about the impact of bullying.
Bullying is not just something that occurs in schools and with young people, but also happens across all sectors, age groups, and forums. Bullying has increasingly been reported in the media and it seems that we are regularly faced with reports about bullying being a triggering factor leading to poor mental health. As we are more connected to each other than ever before (and potentially more disconnected but that is a topic for another blog), as it becomes the norm to hide behind our keyboards and revel in the distance created by a screen, and as we are encouraged to no longer be “polite, compliant” people but rather be honest and authentic, it creates an environment where people can be less thoughtful in their communication and potentially less concerned about the impact of their words on others.
Recently, increased focus has been placed on the role of mental health in the workplace; recognising both the impact of the burden of mental health on the individual and the organisation and the subsequent stress that workplaces place on their employees. Within New Zealand, the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) places responsibility on the employer to protect the health (including mental health) of employees. However, many organisations believe that such programmes are expensive and that the cost of workplace wellbeing programmes outweighs the benefits.
CASA is privileged to be leading the development and delivery of a free national Bereaved by Suicide counselling service on behalf of the Ministry of Health. We know that the loss of a loved one to suicide has a profound effect on those left behind – whānau and family, friends, schools, workplaces and the wider community. Many people bereaved by suicide describe the loss of their loved one as a significant life trauma. Suicide can affect physical, emotional/mental, spiritual and family wellbeing. Support to whānau and family, friends and communities can help reduce these effects and optimise healing.
‘A story of two friends that gives an extraordinary perspective on what we can do about suicide’
Bullying is a serious and distressing experience that can occur in any setting including schools, workplaces and online. There is substantive evidence that both being bullied and bullying of others is associated with a range of negative outcomes. These include increased risk of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety and it is associated with suicidal behaviour.
Workplaces are an ideal opportunity to address mental health issues and suicide related behaviours with the majority of individuals who die by suicide likely to be in the workforce. In NZ over a 5-year period, the majority of men in the 25-65-year-old
age group who died by suicide were in the workforce making this an opportunity for intervention
CASA is proud to announce our NZ focused guidelines for the management of suicide clusters.
“We hope the guidelines offer a valuable insight and simple and accessible framework and resource to support communities to make sense of that complex situation of a suicide cluster. Each community that uses these guidelines to save a life to suicide, means that there is one less family member which has lost a loved family member, one less member of a community who has been lost to suicide. Therefore, these guidelines will be doing what they were intended to do – minimise further loss to suicide in a suicide cluster situation”
The second season of '13 Reasons Why' was released on Friday, 18 May on Netflix. All 13 episodes are available to view from release. Given how controversial and potentially triggering the show it, it is important to be informed about the show, and where to get further support and information if required.
