Te Whatu Ora figures show the number of referrals for anxiety disorders more than halved. Photo: 123RF
Warning: This story contains details of suicide.
There has been a massive drop in referrals for mental health disorders over the past eight years.
Te Whatu Ora figures released under the Official Information Act show the biggest drop was in mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar.
Referrals for these plunged from just over 11,000 to about 3000 and experts say the numbers show the mental health system is broken.
The data reflects referrals mostly made by GPs to specialist community mental health services.
Keira Lusby was about six years old when she was sexually assaulted.
The abuse led to her battling depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and anorexia.
But it took a suicide attempt when she was 16, before she was referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
"It seems like the mental health system and everyone involved don't want to hear about it unless you are on death's door like you've done a suicide attempt, you're severely psychotic, you just won't get referred unless you're one of those things," Lusby said.
Te Whatu Ora figures show the number of referrals for anxiety disorders more than halved from 5117 to just over 2000.
Māori health provider Te Whānau o Waipareira helped whānau Māori on the ground in West Auckland during the anniversary weekend floods.
Manager Rogere Te Whero said whānau were still suffering from anxiety.
"Some of them are still holding their children at home if the clouds are grey, too scared to send their children through to school. They struggle a little bit during that time to get any support in with GPs because the GPs are so loaded with appointments, sometimes it is taking three to four weeks to get an appointment," he said.
And no GP appointment means no referral to specialist mental health services.
New Zealand College of Psychiatrists chair Hiran Thabrew said the drop in the number of referrals distorted the full picture of the state of the country's mental health.
It reflected a massive gap in available psychiatric services, he said.
"We definitely don't have enough psychiatrists, we never have and I think that is why we are advocating for an increase in the number of training positions and an increase in the number of particularly Māori and Pasifika psychiatrists to met the needs of those communities," Thabrew said.
He is calling on the government to commit to increasing the number of trainees in psychiatry, which has been promised by previous governments.
Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson agreed that the system was broken and the demand for mental health services was rising faster than the workforce could grow.
"Yes, we've grown some new services in the GP world but over 90 percent of the staff in those new services came from old services so it's hard to argue that we've actually grown the overall service response," he said.
Te Whatu Ora declined an interview with RNZ but in a statement said it could not speak to why referrals were not being made and it had no idea why the numbers had dropped.
It said the data did not include primary care level or addiction services and only came from specialist mental health service community teams.
Where to get help:
Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202
Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)
Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@youthline.co.nz
What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.
Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
Healthline: 0800 611 116
Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.