Mental Health and Masculinity

Plumbing apprentice, Caleb Ihaia, is set to travel to Peru  in September for a five-day Mental Health Foundation (MHF) fundraising walk .

Caleb Ihaia has personal experience of mental health issues. Now a second-year apprentice at his father’s South Auckland-based plumbing business, DMI Plumbing, Caleb suffered from depression and anxiety after moving to Wellington to attend university. It reached the point that he knew he needed to come home and find a career path that suited him better. 

“I just felt like I was being lazy,” says Caleb, who didn’t want to leave his room to eat or to socialise. 

“For a long time I didn’t talk about it with others because I was worried they might treat me differently or tell me to toughen up,” he says.

He has since become an advocate for men’s mental health. This September, Caleb will be travelling to Peru for a five-day Mental Health Foundation (MHF) fundraising walk on the Inca Trail bound for Machu Picchu. His goal was to reach $4,000  and he has already raised just over $7,000.

Donations will help the MHF provide individuals, workplaces, school and communities with the tools to create positive mental health and wellbeing, and also help the MHF to lobby for equal access to employment and reduce discrimination against people living with mental illness. 

In Caleb’s view, there is definitely stigma surrounding mental health in the trades sector. 

“It’s something people don’t want to discuss and they don’t know how to be open,” he says. 

“There are always people to talk to: you GP, a teacher at school, a mental health hotline. It’s important that you tell at least one person there. Even if they can’t help you personally, they can direct you to someone who can.” he says.

The construction industry has the highest percentage of suicide for employed men in any industry in this country and accounted for 6.9% of total suicides in 2018. Last year 475 men took their own lives in New Zealand. 

On the 29th of May, Safe Site released their BRANZ -funded research project in response to the high levels of suicide in the construction industry.

The study reviewed 300 coroners files of suicides of people who worked in the industry between 2007 to 2017. It was revealed that work place pressure were a factor in nearly a third (32.3%) of all cases.

The report identified no single driver for suicide within the construction industry. However, they found common factors that the industry can now address and improve including workplace pressures and financial strains. 

Safesite are now developing a mental health and wellbeing strategy based on the findings of this report.

Where to find help

If you are experiencing mental health issues, help is available. Resources include: