606 Empty Shoes
 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...de-new-zealand

Had no idea that NZ was suffering such a spate of suicides. What's causing that? It seems such an idyllic and unstressed place from afar. Is there a national debate about it?

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...years-in-a-row

health care costs a lot, poor staffing and not enough facilities I guess are just some of the issues, plus lack of jobs

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

I don't think this is anything new.

If anything, the relative numbers now seem to be fewer than they were twenty years ago. Suicide

It is horrible, and I don't know the answer, but the same issue spans generations it is not just a recent thing.

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

Yep, lack of jobs, poverty, drugs, you name it.

But start with well-paid, full-time employment as the cornerstone of a caring society... as it used to be.

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

I don't know how the numbers look but it seems to cross the full spectrum; including everyday ordinary folks and those in well paid jobs.

To my mind, I think the primary reason it so bad here is because Kiwi culture says you gotta be staunch and that you're considered to be a wuss if you talk about anything emotional or 'whinge' about anything that's bothering you.

People here are afraid of showing any kind emotional fragility, afraid of talking about feelings or seeking help because they will most likely will be ridiculed and almost certainly will be told to 'harden up'.

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

Bo-J has it in a nutshell.

It is not an unstressed idyllic place . That is a veneer & also put out for the would-be tourist , visitor or immigrant *

A recent sensible initiative to try to stem the rising tide was shortchanged by the current government.

No-one here likes to really talk down and dirty about social probs or the changing face that is NZ. It is always somehow swept aside as something that happens in every other country and worse or that it has always been happening somehow . Why anyone would even suggest that is beyond me faced with the tide but hey.

Rather & on a far lesser note, like the driving standards here , unless the population steps up,each and everyone one & states there is a major problem spanning the nation, nothing much will be done. That's New Zealand for you.

The lack of realism & honestly in the face of not just this but other matters does my head in.



* these spell $$ in the coffers. Keep it shiny.

Re: 606 Empty Shoes
 

Interesting observations BoJ and BEVS. I suppose we take it for granted in Britain the (relatively recent) willingness to discuss depression and other mental health issues. I haven't been to NZ so I didn't realise it was quite so repressed, in that regard. Also, when I posted, I hadn't considered that the statistics include many indigenous people, which I suppose mirrors Canada. It was quite a striking statement, those empty shoes, even if the phenomena is ongoing. Although depression is a real human condition, it does seem to be somewhat culturally driven (triggered) too, especially in countries of affluence.