Rising mental health ‘stressors’

• Published date: 08 June 2023
• Publication title: Mountain Scene

AS a collective of counsellors, we have become increasingly aware the distress our clients experience arises largely from their living circumstances

For over a century, since Freud first started ‘talk therapy’, we have worked within a framework that examines the internal world of the client.

But when we turn our attention to the conditions in which our clients live, we see they are hardly conducive to good health, even for the most robust of them.

We cannot therapise or medicate folk out of poverty, a housing crisis, discrimination or the constraints imposed on them by players within the capitalist system who are more interested in profit than people.

Some of the issues we highlight are already well known, however the cumulative impact of the stressors is what often goes unseen.

The housing crisis

The current competition for housing is a major stressor for many of our clients.

Having shelter is universally recognised as a basic human right, but right now it’s not being met.

The housing crisis means many people find themselves going backwards.

When partners who have children together split up, it can result in financial hardship for both.

Inequities in childcare arrangements can cause stress and resentment.

Very often, family support systems reside outside of Queenstown, but childcare arrangements often prevent a parent from relocating.

Often, separated parents stay living together due to their inability to afford two separate homes — this only adds to an already-volatile situation.

If you happen to have children, a pet or some other attribute that might invite discrimination, such as not speaking English fluently, you are severely disadvantaged when seeking housing of any kind.

The toll this takes on their mental health is dire.

Domestic violence

For parents and children who are in a household with domestic violence, the stress of needing to move with nowhere to go is terrifying.

There is no safe house or refuge in Queenstown that can offer temporary accommodation and the intensive support required.

Bullying

There are examples all over Queenstown of good operators who treat employees well.

Unfortunately, there are also many examples of those who fail to respect the humanity of their workforce: resentment and declining mental health are predictable outcomes.

Burnout

The current economic environment asks people to keep producing under conditions that don’t support adequate rest and...