Andrew Dickens: Rejuvenating long weekend highlights mental health's importance

Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Welcome back to work after the last long weekend for a while.
I’ve always thought there was a design failure in the year when Queens Birthday happens in June and then the long haul of winter commences and the next long weekend is Labour weekend in October.
For your information, that is 21 weeks away. Or nearly half a year with the coldest and most brutal weather. It’s ridiculous.
So if you cast your mind back you may remember I wasn’t here on Friday. It’s because Helen and I have reached that age where things fall off and need to be stuck back on again so we were away having what they like to call a procedure. Which also meant that we took the long weekend easy with a slow staycation. And it was glorious.
I listened to no radio and watched no TV news the whole weekend. After last week’s horror show featuring allegations or rape, hacking and cover ups in the political world it was a relief. I didn’t hear the yapping of the commentariat about the strengths and failings of the budget. I didn’t hear the wailing of those who think this country is on a one way descent into economic failure. I didn’t hear the kumbaya crowd hailing the first so called wellbeing budget.
We walked the dog on beaches and heard the lapping of the sea and the call of sea birds and the laughter of children. I watched Liverpool win and the Junior All Whites come oh so close, the Blackcaps destroy Sri Lanka, the French Open, the end of the Giro d’Italia and two episodes in a row of What We Do In The Shadows. We ate a Fish curry, some lamb caps and a chicken chorizo pasta.
Basically, we decompressed and cheered up. Last week depressed me greatly. Not just the visit to a surgeon but also the deplorable behaviour of all our politicians.
Which brings me back to the budget, which to me was just another budget whose saving grace was the investment in mental health. Something we have ignored for so long. The way I feel today after a good weekend is proof that mental wellbeing is important for economic progress.
In 2016 the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists did a thorough investigation into the cost of mental health in our countries. In New Zealand the cost to the economy due to the burden of mental illness in New Zealand is NZ$17.0 billion a year, or 7.2% of GDP, if opioid dependence is included.
If opioid use is excluded the cost is still NZ$12.0 billion or 5.0% of GDP. On top of that it is estimated that for every dollar invested in mental illness will return $2.30. That's a $4.4 billion return based on this budget announcement. Happy workers are harder workers.
I think that’s a good riposte to all those who thought the budget was too touch feely and lacking a financial focus. Now how about having another long weekend in August?
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