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The Hui

Whānau of gang member who battled addiction, depression speaks out on challenges gangs face getting help

Warning: This story discusses suicide, mental health, and drug use.

Mental health challenges and suicide amongst gang whānau has been described as a "hidden contagion".

"Gangs may well be some of the most vulnerable people in our community when it comes to mental health compromises and self-harm," said clinical psychologist Dr Armon Tamatea.

For those who have been born into gang life at a young age, many have been exposed to a way of life that has led to psychological trauma and mental health challenges.

It's a story all too familiar for 24-year-old Bonus Atkins, who was born into the Mongrel Mob and took his own life in 2021. His former partner said gang life was all he knew.

"To Bonus, it was like a family. His heart was with them," said Jade Taare, who was in a two-year relationship with Atkins. 

Overseas research shows long-term or pervasive exposure to violence is associated with a range of psychological problems including depression, anxiety, behavioural problems and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Atkins had been hooked on smoking methamphetamine since he was 14.

"That was like his band-aid for things that he had seen growing up but he thought the P was making it better. All I see now is just this traumatised, emotional boy, just covering it up with drugs, coping through it with drugs," Taare said.

Dr Tamatea said one way to cope is through the use of substances, which can affect how people feel and think about things that can help suppress negative feelings and introduce positive experiences.

"The issue is, of course, when we move into the space of addiction when we can't do without that," Dr Tamatea said.

Often, the mental health of gang-affiliated rangatahi will go undiagnosed and untreated.

"Many gang whānau face multiple prejudices, criminal histories will be part of that, racism will be part of that, but also poverty is part of that picture as well. All of these are stressful situations to deal with. When they all co-occur in the same whānau, the same people, those are very difficult circumstances to have to contend with day in, day out," Dr Tamatea said.

It's only since his death that Taare has realised just how desperate Atkins' situation was. Two weeks after losing him in such a tragic way, Taare attempted to take her own life as well.  

Taare's survival has spurred her on to expose the difficulties gang whānau face in getting the specialist help they urgently need. 

"We're just losing too many whānau, especially our Māori people, our own people, what if someone went through exactly what I went through? But they don't have family, they don't have that sort of support. What's going to happen to them?" said Taare.

Jade Taare, who was in a two-year relationship with Bonus Atkins.
Jade Taare, who was in a two-year relationship with Bonus Atkins. Photo credit: The Hui

Incarceration makes already underlying mental health conditions even worse.

"Prisons aren't designed for care, so security and containment are a strong part of what prisons are about, as opposed to growth and wellness," said Dr Tamatea.

Since 2017, 38 people have taken their lives while in prison with 42 percent of those suicides being gang-affiliated inmates.

It's the first year of a prison sentence and time in remand where self-harm and suicide are more likely to occur.

"Ninety percent of people in Ara Poutama have either in the past or right now had a mental health or addiction problem. In the last 12 months, 62 percent of them will have had a mental health or addiction challenge. So it's a very, very significant and important need for the people who we support," said Department of Corrections (Ara Poutama) director of mental health and addictions Emma Gardner.

Ara Poutama's radical new prison build - Hikitia - is a 100-bed dedicated mental health and addiction facility. It is set to open next year and hopes to address the challenges.

"I really strongly believe this will have a more profound impact on the things we're hoping as a department to achieve, which are, safer communities and reduced reoffending in addition to improving outcomes, for Māori. What we've perhaps tried in the past hasn't always been successful. So the time is right to do something innovative and new," said Gardner.

Made with support from Te Māngai Pāho and the Public Interest Journalism Fund. 

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