Recent data showed one in five young people aged 15 to 25 were experiencing higher rates of psychological distress than other aged groups.
Collated by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Te Hiringa Mahara, the assessment also showed Māori, disabled and LGBTQIA+ youth had poorer mental wellbeing than other young people.
Director of wellbeing insights and leadership Ella Cullen said the assessment showed a continuous decline in the mental health of young people since 2018.
"At the same time, young people are less likely to get professional help for their mental health needs when they need it."
Dr Cullen said there were some young people who experienced more hardship than others.
"For example, rangatahi Māori, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people are subject to higher levels of inequities, when compared to older age groups, and lowered wellbeing than their peers."
Dunedin Pride chairperson Meihana Pōtiki-Grayling said they fell into all three of those groups and understood why they were facing hardship.
"I’ve had some pretty severe mental health issues for most of my life.
"Being someone who is queer, disabled and Māori, it makes it more difficult to seek treatment."
Trying to find who they were in among their "intersecting identities" was a real uphill battle.
"Whether you’re Māori, whether you’re queer, whether you’re disabled, or a combination of all three, the world is just more difficult and it’s not built for us.
"It’s a struggle, honestly."
Working in advocacy it was difficult to do their job knowing they "might not be safe doing it".
"There’s been just so much hate that’s been thrown at the queer community that’s been really gross and quite difficult to navigate."
It was also especially hard for the disabled community due to the disability benefit cuts.
"We’re almost being set up for failure from the get-go, always a couple of steps behind, not quite able to get there."
Dunedin’s Fern Collective and WEKA peer support worker Holly Brammell worked closely with the neurodivergent, disability, and rainbow communities, many of whom were Māori, she said.
"I work a wraparound approach: I work with families, I work with schools, I work with services, so the decline in mental health for me means a long wait time.
"The referral process is impossible for families at the moment, unless they’re wanting to go private."
She said the lack of funding was a major part of the issue.
Dr Cullen explained the only way to stop the decline was for leaders and organisations to get together and work to solve the issue.
"Until we can tackle the roots of these inequalities, we won’t see the change that we need," she said.
