From the settlement of New Zealand (c. 1300 AD) till into the 20th century most Māori believed in a
supernatural origin of mental illness. They did, however, distinguish between the insane, demented, the intellectually disabled, and people who were spiritually possessed. There is no significant reference to suicide in the Māori oral tradition. Many European early settlers found life in the colony hard and alienating. Instances of depression were recorded and many attempts were made to make New Zealand more like their home country. In the 1840s, the societal response to people with mental illness was imprisonment in specially-built sections of local jails; no treatment was provided. However, two doctors were required to testify in order to commit a patient.
Asylums and mental hospitals In the 1860s and 1870s, provincial governments opened
asylums. Patient were given less restraint than before and encouraged to work and be involved in community activities. This system followed closely to the English model. The earliest of these institutions were small and near city centres, while later in the century they became immense hospitals built in secluded locations, such as
Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. The treatment patients received in these asylums was inconsistent and staff had no medical training. However, some innovators like
Frederic Truby King in 1887 introduced better food for patients and more discipline for staff. The ward size was shrunk and patients given more freedom. Treatment, however, still remained cruel by modern standards. In 1911, it became possible for people to admit themselves to asylums (now called Mental Hospitals) and patients were referred to as inmates instead of lunatics. This reduced some of the public stigma around mental illness. Separate parts of the hospitals were also reserved for diagnosis and early treatment. Hospitals were designed around multiple buildings so that patients of different age and sex could be more easily separated. By 1916, halfway houses were being built to provide accommodation for veterans with 'shell shock' (
post-traumatic stress disorder), which sometimes led to substance abuse. The public sympathy for these returned servicemen also helped improve the public image of mental illness. These halfway houses were also used for more minor mental health concerns and took some pressure off the mental hospital system. Psychiatry started to be practiced as a medical science and outpatient visits were also started. However, in the medical and public consciousness, there was still a division between people suffering from illness or bad experiences and the incurably insane. While once thought miraculous, they were discontinued due to negative side-effects and questionable health benefits. In the late 1930s, almost a quarter of patient admissions were voluntary. Treatment became free from 1939 in the now-renamed 'psychiatric hospitals.' Trial releases into society became more common but were still far from being the norm. In the 1940s, the roles of social worker and occupational therapist were introduced.
Janet Frame, a famous New Zealand writer, was held at the asylum during the 1940s and was wrongly diagnosed as a
schizophrenic. By 1969, a quarter of all mental patients were still in then-outdated asylum era buildings that lacked the design improvements from the previous 50 years. Patients were either transferred to remaining hospitals, or to residential care or supported accommodation in the community. People with intellectual disabilities moved to new lives in the community with care provided by a range of community agencies. The 1990s also saw the separation of intellectual handicaps from mental health services, and more attention was paid to Māori, who were over-represented in the mental health system. From 2012 on, the Health and Disability Commission has overseen the integration of New Zealand's response to mental health issues.
LGBT people have more mental health issues than the general population today in New Zealand. As in many countries, homosexual people were historically committed to mental institutions and given 'treatment' for what was believed to be a mental illness. About 4,000 people in New Zealand are committed to compulsory-detention on the grounds of a mental disorder every year.
John Kirwan, a famous
All Black, has openly spoken of his battle with depression and is actively involved in mental health and depression awareness campaigns in New Zealand. He has written about his depression in the books ''All Blacks Don't Cry
and Stand by Me''. There are guidelines for the media when dealing with mental health issues.
Government apologies and accountability for historical institutional abuse In recent years, the New Zealand Government has issued several formal apologies for historical injustices related to institutional care within the Nation. New Zealand's current Prime Minister,
Christopher Luxon, made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament in 2024 regarding the widespread torture, neglect, and abuse of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care, many of them indigenous Maori. It was estimated that 200,000 people in either state, foster or faith-based care, endured inhumane abuse over seven decades. During that time period, between 1950 and 2019, approximately 650,000 were in care, which results in nearly one-third of the total suffering “unimaginable” abuse. Furthermore, this investigation was recognized as the largest ever undertaken in New Zealand due to its combined 6-year scale, multi-sector scope, extensive hearings, survivor statements, reviewed documents, and its significant cost and impact, which spanned billions to compensate and reform future care. Another notable apology was in 2001, when the government paid out NZ$10 million in compensation to 183 former Lake Alice patients. The former head of the unit, Selwyn Leeks, was later found to have engaged in misconduct, but he was never formally charged due to ill health and passed away a month later, meaning no one was or has been held criminally accountable. Some survivors have described the government's acknowledgment as symbolic rather than a genuine apology, referring to it as a “small brick in a stepping stone” after experiencing repeated electric shocks. During the 1970s, Leeks justified the use of electric shock treatment, stating that “it’s effective, it’s quick, it’s lifesaving, it has much to recommend it.” These treatments are now formally recognized by the government as constituting torture. These apologies have typically acknowledged systemic neglect and abuse that occurred in psychiatric institutions, children's homes, and hospitals throughout the mid-20th century. The government's approach has focused on processes of official recognition and compensation, aiming to restore trust between state institutions and affected communities. == Conditions, causes, and treatment of illness ==