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Stuff-co-nz
Dr. Anne Bardsley and Sir Peter Gluckman.
The feeling of national unity during the closure is threatened amid continued disruption of personal life and a grim new economic reality looming for New Zealand after the coronavirus.
According to a group of leading Kiwi social scientists, who say that a collective sense of purpose that is rarely seen outside of wartime could be tested as a spike in anger, frustration, depression and anxiety.
His comments came in a new Koi Tū discussion paper: The University of Auckland Informed Futures Center.
It follows an earlier article by the expert group, which predicted that depression, anxiety, and suicide would increase.
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The last article points to the need to promote social cohesion as New Zealand faces difficulties in maintaining trust and unity as restrictions are lifted.
In a statement accompanying the newspaper’s publication, Koi Tū chief Sir Peter Gluckman said the high level of confidence in the government apparent during the blockade is likely to decline as the implications of a long recession become clear.
“We are already seeing an increase in tension between conflicting economic and health interests.”
Some sectors are in a hurry to return to pre-Covid life, while others see the opportunity for a reset, he said.
“Many lives have fundamentally changed, and for those people, the new” normal “is fraught with great uncertainty.
“This is where social cohesion will begin to break down and the mental well-being of many will be affected the most.”
Sir Peter said that social cohesion should be a key political consideration.
Decisions could be made at one extreme through a top-down, divisive partisan process, or alternatively through a constructive and inclusive process, he said.
Along with Sir Peter, the article was written by Paul Spoonley, Anne Bardsley, Tracey McIntosh, Rangimarie Hunia, Sarb Johal, and Richie Poulton and reported by a larger group of mental health experts.
They found that the initial phase of the closure showed high levels of trust in the Government, a sense of belonging, and a willingness to participate and help others, pointing to strong social cohesion.
Spoonley said greater cohesion was often seen in the initial response to major crises as people rallied against a common threat.
But as time passed, that cohesion could be lost and, in fact, could worsen more than before the crisis.
“We cannot be complacent,” Spoonley said.
“A Covid-free, cohesive and secure country will enhance New Zealand’s global reputation and help project our place in the world, with a positive flow in effects for our economy.
“But once lost, it becomes extremely difficult to restore, especially when there is increased uncertainty and new forms of inequality.”
