Barry Soper: More than just a phone

Labour's pitched its policy saying it'll ensure access to mental health services more quickly for those who urgently need it, National says it's already being done. Photo / 123RF

Most of us were in awe of the technology 15 years ago.

It was more than just a phone, your finger on the screen could make images move, it was phenomenal.

You carried around access to the world in your pocket.

You could contact anyone, anywhere in the world with a personal message.

You were in touch and little did you probably know it back then, you'd never be out of touch again.

Unfortunately the connection came via a manufactured device, for many the personal touch was replaced by touching a glass screen.

Worse still it meant for many with a smart phone they became more isolated, they could communicate alright, but they could also abuse and manipulate others who owned a similar device without fear of detection.

And that's worth thinking about as the politicians battle over who's going to come up with the best mental health policy.

Unfortunately health policies tend to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

Labour's pitched its policy saying it'll ensure access to mental health services more quickly for those who urgently need it, National says it's already being done.

Of course every politician genuinely wants to improve what is an appalling situation in our country, once known as the half gallon, quarter acre, Pavlova Paradise with a reputation of being the land of milk and honey.

Unfortunately the statistics don't bear that out with the suicide rate here much higher than the road toll with males more likely to take their lives than females.

The danger ages are between 20 and 24, worse still 45 to 49 year olds with the highest suicide rate for over 85 year olds which doesn't say a lot about how we care for our elderly.

As a country we're about the middle of the pack, worse than Australia and just above the United States.

Our former GP Health Minister Jonathan Coleman was asked what societal pressures he thought makes life so unbearable in this country.

He pointed to the aforementioned, saying young people were subjected to stuff much earlier and many live more isolated lives than they have done in the past, which is what social, or probably more correctly anti social media, allows them to do.

It's not helped by a despicable app thought up by a young Russian which brain washes teenagers, urging them to watch horror movies, to wake at strange hours and to self harm.

When they're exhausted and confused, they're told commit suicide, and incredibly many of them have.

From this perspective it's unfortunate that the technology door's been opened but it's now incumbent on all of us to be vigilant of what comes through it and how it could affect our loved ones.