He said he had heard reports of people waiting weeks for an appointment with a counsellor, while others were unloading their mental health burdens on GPs.
Mr Boult was aware of several suspected suicides in the resort since the start of lockdown four months ago.
He will be raising those issues with Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming at a meeting tomorrow, and asking him if the resort’s mental health team has "adequate personnel and adequate resources".
Mr Boult said there continued to be stigma attached to talking about mental illness that was discouraging many residents, particularly men, from seeking help.
"We come from a background where we thought it was something to be talked about behind closed doors.
"We need to get over that; we need to realise this is an issue that’s real and there’s no stigma in it ... you’ve got to go and get some help and sort yourself out."
He was particularly concerned about the number of men in the resort feeling pressure to keep providing for their families, but who were presenting a traditional New Zealand "staunch" front to those around them.
"They’re worried about whether they’ve got a job, and their ability to provide for their family."
Mr Boult’s concerns are shared by Lance Burdett, a former police officer of 22 years and founder of resilience coaching company Warn (wellness, awareness, resilience and negotiation).
He is running a seminar in the resort on Saturday aimed at helping people deal with stress and anxiety.
Mr Burdett said Queenstown’s economic boom of the past few years meant many residents had not faced anything as challenging as the Covid-19 crisis before.
“So we’ve got nothing to refer to from previous times, and that’s when our mind comes into play and makes things up."
He aimed to give people practical skills to change the way they thought and help them move on.
The course also looked at how to tell when another person was struggling, and how to safely handle and manage them to seek help.
But the course, which was based on neuroscience, approached the issues in a “positive light”, Mr Burdett said.
Event organiser Gemma Smith said she saw a need for people to get some tools to address anxiety, sleeplessness and stress.
“There are very few of us in the community who’re untouched by what’s going on at the moment in one way or another.
“Not all of us have the ability to deal with the stress, so the more people know about it and the more people have some pragmatic tools to implement in their daily lives, the better outcome for them individually and the better outcome for their community as well.”
- Additional reporting: Guy Williams
