I was just so afraid and so frightened… and they didn’t reduce the fear they kind of fueled the fear… You’re treated like a flippin’ criminal and that’s not fair because we’re not.
The Mental Health Act covers how we treat New Zealanders believed to need acute mental health support.
It is over 30 years old and has never been comprehensively reviewed.
Every 46 minutes, a New Zealander goes under the Mental Health Act. This person could be you, or someone you love.
There are many reasons why the Mental Health Act needs urgent change. One of the most important reasons is it criminalises the people needing mental health support the most.
Once assessed by a mental health clinician as ‘mentally disordered’, a judge may use this law to force someone to receive mental health treatment — whether they agree to that treatment or not. The person needing support has little say on what kinds of mental health treatment they receive, or where, including whether they are detained in a hospital and how long for. This forceful approach criminalises people who deserve support, care and a health response.
Learn more about the Mental Health Act, and how someone goes under it, by watching our video above.
Want more detail around how someone is assessed (and potentially treated) under the Mental Health Act?
Why does the Mental Health Act need to change?
Forcing people in distress to receive mental health treatment doesn’t often show good outcomes. There is no evidence to suggest it assists with improvements in mental health, and yet there is evidence to suggest this sort of approach leads to people feeling stigmatised and dehumanised.”
Giles Newton-Howes, Associate Professor at the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago
It’s widely agreed the Mental Health Act needs urgent change, and there are many reasons why. Learn about just six of these reasons, by watching our video above.
But — don’t some people want to go under the Mental Health Act?
People who have been under the Mental Health Act have mixed experiences — while some found it traumatising, others found it provided faster and easier access to mental health supports and services. Indeed, some people are under the Mental Health Act only to secure access to services — a symptom of our stretched mental health system.
It’s important to remember it is the access to mental health support — not the forced mental health treatment — that people find helpful.
The Mental Health Act should function as a last resort for New Zealanders needing acute mental health support, not as our primary pathway to specialist mental health care.
But — don’t some people need to be locked up, for their own and others’ safety?
It’s a myth that people with significant mental distress innately pose a risk to the public. Up to 80% of us will experience mental distress or illness in our lifetimes. Although rare incidents do occur (and are over-reported on in the media), statistics show people experiencing significant mental distress are far more likely to be the victims of crime and violence, not its perpetrators.
It’s also a myth that going under the Mental Health Act always keeps people safe. Although some people feel safer when their loved ones are detained in a hospital or forced to receive mental health treatment, this feeling of safety is only an illusion.
There is little evidence that going under the Mental Health Act removes all risk that someone in distress may hurt themselves or others, or that those risks can be accurately predicted.
Want to learn more about the Mental Health Act?
Download our two factsheets, and share them with your colleagues and loved ones, by clicking on the links below.
Want to hear New Zealanders’ real stories of being under the Mental Health Act?
Staying safe
Talking about the Mental Health Act may be upsetting or triggering — a valid and understandable response.
If you or someone you know has immediate safety concerns, please dial 111 or contact your local mental health crisis assessment team, which you can find on our helplines page below.
Further reading
For more in-depth information around the Mental Health Act and how the Mental Health Foundation and others believe it needs to change, click on our previous submission to the Government, and our reports and position statements linked below.