Mental Health Awareness Week 2017

Nobody should die alone and in despair in our community.

Make a donation to Samaritans for NZ Mental Health Awareness Week (9-15 October) and Primary IT will match your donation (up to $1,500).

Samaritans provides a 24/7 helpline service offering confidential, non-religious, non-judgmental support to anyone who may be feeling depressed, lonely or suicidal.

Suicide is a leading cause of death for males in New Zealand. There are significantly more deaths each year from suicide than from motor vehicle accidents The Chief Coroner’s latest annual report shows that 606 people took their own lives between July 2016 and June 2017.

Key findings from the People’s Mental Health Report:

“Many people said they didn’t have appropriate treatment options. Specifically, people expressed concern about the harmful impact of an over-reliance on medication, partly due to a lack of resources for a wider range of treatments, including a full range of talking therapies, accessing peer support, or simply having someone who could take the time to listen.”

“Many people have had difficulty accessing appropriate and timely mental health services, and in particular, many people faced long wait times to access publicly funded treatments. In a number of stories, people expressed concern that they couldn’t get the help they needed until their health had deteriorated to the point of crisis. As a result, people observed, resources that could be more constructively used for community-based early intervention are absorbed by expensive and, in too many cases, ineffective crisis management.”

Last year Samaritans took over 30,000 calls from New Zealander's whose problems felt to overwhelming to deal with alone.

Please make a donation to Samaritans during NZ Mental Health Awareness Week (9-15 October) .

Funds raised will be used to pay the operating costs for their 24 hour a day call centre based in Wellington.