Too often, we divorce mental health from other aspects of wellbeing and leave the importance of whānau out of the picture, says academic and Māori health leader Sir Mason Durie.
The Te Whare Tapa Whā approach to wellbeing (which Sir Durie developed in 1984) is more integrated and "makes more sense than dividing the person into bits", he tells Jim Mora.
Sir Mason Durie ONZ KNZM Photo: Brendan O'Hagan
Community inspired events like the Hawkes Bay IRONMĀORI triathlon are never labelled as health or mental health programmes yet contribute greatly to wellbeing, Sir Durie says.
"Many of the people who go in it have got all sorts of issues they're facing. For some, it's a question of not being physically fit. For others, it's been a question of being a bit morose and not quite knowing what they're going to do. At the end of the training and the end of the event, they're quite different people."
Mental distress is too frequently confused with mental illness, he says.
"Most people who are mentally distressed don't have a mental illness so seeing a psychiatrist or going on medication is not an answer nor is it desirable."
Physical and mental health should be viewed as stepping stones to wellbeing, Sir Durie says.
"I think every [medical] check-up we have should include mental health and physical health and some enquiries about how things are in the family."
