Kia Mataara: This article discusses suicide.
Suicide has touched Scott Campbell’s life since childhood, when he lost a good friend. Since then, five mates — all Māori males — have also died by suicide.
He is now researching suicide prevention among US firefighters, hoping what he learns can help back home.
“My mates, who I lost over the years, including when I was 8 or 9, had a big impact on me because I didn’t understand why,” he says.
“We might have seen that they were a bit low at times, but we would never have known what to say to them. Or, I know that they wouldn’t have known what to say to us.
“And so, I’m looking at that. I want to understand how we can help people to do it [have those conversations].”
Campbell (Te Arawa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga), a leadership and strategic communications specialist, is completing a Doctor of Business Administration through the University of Otago, focused on the US fire service.
Over the past two years, Campbell says he has noticed similarities in some of the issues associated with suicide vulnerability among US firefighters and Māori, particularly Māori men.
Among the parallels he sees for some men are a loss of identity and purpose, and a sense of not belonging.
“Particularly with retired firefighters or people who are getting close to the end of their career, you go from being in a job where it’s more than just a job, it’s who you are and it becomes a part of their identity. When they lose that identity and their purpose, it has a real impact on people.
“I’m seeing a lot of similarities when I look at our people who are struggling with understanding who they are, where they come from.”
Campbell also sees parallels in expectations around strength and the stigma of showing vulnerability or admitting you’re struggling.
“It takes a really special person to be a firefighter. You have to run into a building when other people are running away from that building.
“Inside there is the stigma of being strong, never backing down from things, not wanting to speak up because you might feel weak and the stigma that surrounds it.
“I see a lot of that stuff in my friends and myself and my whānau, in our rangatahi and particularly in our men.”
Campbell says some groups also face greater risks.
“When I look at the statistics around firefighters in the US, it’s often those who are in the marginalised groups. So those who are younger, those who are in the lower ranks, those of different ethnicities and different genders.
“These are the people who are higher vulnerabilities to suicide. And we face a lot of those challenges as well.”
For Campbell, a key message is that speaking about struggle should not be seen as weakness.
“It’s not weak to speak and I think one of the things that I really want to do through this research is show that if these heroes can do this, we can too.
“We can speak up, we can speak up for each other.”
A former television political journalist, Campbell’s career has since spanned communications, strategic advisory roles, executive leadership and governance.
His thesis, Beyond the Trauma Narrative, questions whether the longstanding focus on post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is enough to fully understand suicide vulnerability among firefighters.
Campbell is investigating whether other factors are just as influential, including cumulative trauma, loss of purpose and identity, stigma, leadership and culture, and the impact of long shifts on home and family life.
Several of those themes overlap with the similarities Campbell says he sees in the experiences of Māori men, particularly around identity, purpose, belonging and the pressure to remain strong.
Campbell says the loss of his friends gives the research a deeply personal meaning.
“It makes it more than a project. For me, this is about trying to honour them and the people who do this job and their whānau.
“One of the things with suicide, and stories that I’ve heard about, is that you’ll often be left with never knowing why.
“But if we can at least try and give people a language before they get to that point, we might be able to stop it. Suicide is preventable. We do know that through the research. But it’s really hard to get there before somebody gets into the act,” he says.
“I want our people to understand that we can still be strong and tūturu and be able to talk about these things.
“With suicide, it’s a hard topic to talk about, and as Māori, you know, it can be challenging wherever you are throughout the motu. But if we don’t speak about it, it just gets hidden.
“And we can’t change things if it’s not out in the open.”
Campbell’s interest in the US fire service began after meeting a colleague at Harvard University several years ago and hearing about his experiences.
“He told me the story about the fire station that he was at, and it just sat with me. I came home and I was waking up nights thinking about it.”
The strength associated with firefighters in the US is another reason Campbell sees a connection with Māori.
“In the States these firefighters are held up as being heroes, kids on the street salute them, people walk around with jerseys and t-shirts on. They’re made to feel really strong.
“I see a lot of that in our people as well. We are strong, but when we’re in our lowest, like the firefighters, we’re not sure how to help ourselves at times.
“So I see a real connection there.”
Campbell says studying the issue in the US also gives him an opportunity to look at the problem from the outside and consider what could be brought home.
“One of the things about working in the States is that it gives me the ability to look at a very real problem from the outside, which means that I’m able to look at it with a different lens.
“I can learn from there and bring it home so it doesn’t lose all of the good work that I get from there. It just gives me the ability to look at it in a different way as well.”
Campbell is now moving into the research and thesis stage of his doctorate, with 23 months until submission.
Where to get help:
If you need support, if you are struggling with suicidal ideation or have lost someone to suicide, see the listed services below.
- Aoake Te Rā – Free bereaved by Suicide Service
- Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
- Suicide Prevention Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOK0)
- Lifeline 0800 543 354 or 09 522 2999 or free text 4357 (HELP)
- Youthline 0800 376 633 or free text 234
- mentalhealth.org.nz/download Free suicide prevention and suicide loss resources
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
