Former professional boxer Dave Letele, known as Brown Buttabean, says he is so immersed in his work supporting and serving his community in Auckland that he wasn't even aware of the massive drop in suspected death by suicides among Pacific communities in Aotearoa.
"What we see, unfortunately, is a lot of need, a heck of a lot of pain, we do our best to serve and support along with other community groups," Letele said.
The annual provisional suspected suicide statistics showed the number of suspected deaths by suicides among Aotearoa New Zealand's Pacific communities has dropped significantly.
The overall figure across the whole population has risen slightly with Māori continuing to be the worst affected.
Figures show 538 people died by suspected suicide in the financial year to 30 June 2022, across all populations.
Among the Pacific population, the number of suspected deaths was 5.1 per 100 thousand people, down from 9.2 in the previous financial year.
"It's amazingly positive news, obviously, there's always work to be done," Letele said,
Letele, who runs a free community fitness programme, Brown Buttabean Motivation (BBM) in Manukau, which received funding under the previous Labour government, said he sees mental distress first-hand.
"The decrease in these numbers is a testament to all of the groups that are out there doing the work that are connected to our communities," he said.
Robust reporting
Before a death by suicide can be confirmed, the Coroner needs to investigate and this process can sometimes take months or years - meaning that until that process is completed a death is listed as 'suspected'.
The Health Ministry's Suicide Prevention Office acting director Dr Sarah Hetrick said because of New Zealand's robust coronial investigation process, it was unlikely that deaths are going unreported.
"Police always inform a coroner when someone dies unexpectedly, and GPs and doctors also report deaths to the coroner when they are unsure about the cause of death," Dr Hetrick said.
"There may be small differences between the number of suspected and confirmed suicides while the coronial inquiry into a suspected suicide is underway, but these will be updated once the coroner makes a formal finding."
Dr Hetrick said the provisional statistics should be "interpreted with caution".
"The trend from 2008 is a more useful way to evaluate any change in the suicide rate for Pacific peoples and it is heartening to see a downwards trend across this timeframe," Dr Hetrick said.
'People bravely tuning up' for help
The Fono's, LagiOla Healthy Minds manager Renee Richards-Berry believes government funding of community services has played a role in lowering deaths.
"I can't underestimate the importance of working with the whole person and the whole family," Richards-Berry said.
Richards-Berry said while it was hard to draw a specific correlation between the work being done by Pacific health providers on the ground, she has seen positive progress.
"We've noticed a real increase over the last year or two of Pacific engagement with our services.
"We're noticing an increasing complexity of the presentations, people are bravely tuning up at primary care, and usually supported by their family and asking for support.
"This is good news because that's why our services have been set-up to be able to support people when they're experiencing distress."
The Fono's, LagiOla Healthy Minds service launched in August last year.
It provides wrap-around mental health support to ensure the triggers for poor mental health outcomes are addressed.
"We need to tackle the stresses in order to be able to make a difference in a family's wellbeing," Richards-Berry explained.
"Linking in with other social services or health services that will reduce the stress. You can talk about being stressed as much as you like.
"If your key stressor is related to not having a house, or not knowing if you're able to feed your family the next week, then we can talk about it till we're blue in the face.
"It's about being able to link that family into services that will change the long term outcome, and be able to reduce that stress long term," he said.
David Letele said services like this are vital particularly in Pacific communities.
"In our Pasifika culture, a lot of it gets swept under the rug."
His message to you is:
"It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength, you need to reach out and ask for help".
If you want support from the Fono you can reach out to them at: talanoa@thefono.org
RNZ
Where to find help and support:
- Need to Talk? - Call or text 1737
- What's Up - 0800 WHATS UP (0800 942 8787)
- Lifeline - 0800 543 354 or (09) 5222 999 within Auckland
- Youthline - 0800 376 633, text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
- Samaritans - 0800 726 666
- Depression Helpline - 0800 111 757
- Suicide Crisis Helpline - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
- Shakti Community Council - 0800 742 584
