Ipsos Releases Its Fourth Survey Into How New Zealanders Feel About Mental Health.

Significantly more New Zealanders now believe that the NZ healthcare system treats mental health as being equally important as physical health, putting New Zealand on par with the global country average.

Ipsos has released its fourth report into New Zealanders' views on mental health, revealing how perceptions are changing and how we compare with 30 other countries.

Significantly more New Zealanders now believe that the NZ healthcare system treats mental health as being equally important as physical health, putting New Zealand on par with the global country average.

Yet New Zealanders...

• are more likely to report having felt stressed to the point they could not go to work (43%) than others around the world (39% global average);
• often report having felt stressed to the point where it had an impact on how they live their daily lives (64%);
• often have felt stressed to the point where they felt like they could not cope / deal with things at least once in the past year (57%).

Other key results include:

• 60% of New Zealanders think about their mental wellbeing often, compared to 76% for physical wellbeing. These rates are similar to last year (61% and 76% respectively)
• 77% of New Zealanders consider mental wellbeing as equally important as physical wellbeing. This is a small drop (of 3 percentage points) from last year
• Compared to others around the world, New Zealanders are more likely to have talked with friends/family about their mental health issues and concerns (40%, cf. 30% global average), taken medication to help their mental health (23%, cf. 18%), talked to their primary healthcare provider about their mental health (21%, cf. 15%)
   

Carin Hercock, Managing Director, Ipsos New Zealand, said: “Ipsos global research tells us that Mental Health is the leading health issue both globally and in New Zealand. This is the fourth year we have run this study in New Zealand and we continue to see stress having a real impact on the daily lives of New Zealanders and this is particularly impacting our young people and women”

Amanda Dudding, Research Director, Public Affairs, Ipsos New Zealand, added: “The health sector’s continued focus on mental health means significantly more New Zealanders now believe that that mental health is treated as equally important as physically health. In addition, New Zealanders are more likely to reach out to their GP to discuss their mental health than they were last year.”

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