Mental Health Awareness Week 2026: Building Stigma Free Care

From 12 to 18 October, Aotearoa marks Mental Health Awareness Week. It is a week the Mental Health Foundation has run since 1993, and the message at its heart is a simple one: our mental health matters just as much as our physical health, and looking after it should never be something we feel we have to hide.

At Cannabis Clinic, that message sits close to home. Every day our team sits with people who have spent years quietly managing pain, illness, poor sleep and the toll all of that takes on their wellbeing. Many of them carry something else as well, a worry about how they will be judged for the choices they are making about their own health. This week feels like the right time to talk openly about that, and about the kind of care we are working to build.

The stigma is still real

Last year we launched Stop the Stigma, a campaign built around a straightforward idea: medicinal cannabis is legal, it is valid, and the shame that still surrounds it needs to go.

The research behind that campaign told a clear story. While most New Zealanders are aware that medicinal cannabis exists and know it is legal, a majority still feel a stigma hangs over it. A significant number say they would worry about being judged, by friends, by whānau, by employers, or even by their own doctor. That worry is often enough to stop people asking questions they have every right to ask.

Stigma thrives in silence. When people feel they cannot talk openly, they go without information, they go without support, and sometimes they go without care altogether. Chipping away at that silence is some of the most important work we do.

What stigma free care actually looks like

It is easy for a clinic to say it is judgement free. It is harder to show what that means in practice.

For us it starts with the very first conversation. When someone sits down with one of our doctors or nurses, we are not there to lecture them about the past. If you use cannabis illicitly, that is not something we hold against you. A great many people do, often because they were in pain and had run out of other options. What matters to us is understanding your health now, so we can have a proper, informed conversation about whether medicinal cannabis is an appropriate option for you.

Stigma-free care also means honest conversations in both directions. We ask real questions and we hope for real answers, and we work hard to make it safe to give them. No raised eyebrows. No assumptions about the kind of person you are. Just two people talking honestly about your health.

Why people hold back, even with their own doctor

Here is something we see often: people do not always tell their GP everything.

That is not a criticism of anyone. GPs are trusted, hardworking and stretched thin. But patients frequently leave things out, whether it is how much pain they are really in, how they have been sleeping, how much they have been drinking, or whether they have tried cannabis to manage their symptoms. Sometimes it is embarrassment. Sometimes it is a fear of being judged or of getting a lecture. Sometimes a short appointment simply does not leave room for the harder conversations.

The trouble is that the things people leave out are often the things that matter most. A clinician can only give good advice based on the full picture. When part of that picture stays hidden, the care suffers, and it is the patient who misses out.

Part of our job is to make it easier to fill in those gaps, with no shame attached.

The double stigma: mental health and medicinal cannabis

For a lot of the people we see, there are actually two conversations that feel difficult to start.

The first is about mental health. Despite everything that has changed, plenty of New Zealanders still find it hard to say out loud that they are struggling with their mood, their anxiety or their sleep. The second is about medicinal cannabis, with all the old associations it still carries for some people. Put those two together and you have a double stigma, two topics many people would rather not raise, sitting right next to each other.

We think the answer is to normalise both. Talking about your mental health should be as ordinary as talking about a sore knee. And asking a sensible question about a legal, prescribed treatment should not feel like a confession.

Being open about your mental health matters for another reason too. It helps us look after you safely. Your mental health history is genuinely relevant to a careful cannabis conversation, and the more we understand, the better and safer the advice we can give. That is exactly why a judgement free space is not just a nice idea. It is good medicine.

What people tell us after a judgement free first appointment

The feedback we hear most often after a first appointment is not just about the science. It is about relief.

People tell us they felt listened to. They tell us it was the first time they had talked about their health without bracing for judgement. They tell us they were surprised by how normal it felt, how it was simply a calm, respectful conversation rather than the ordeal they had built up in their heads. More than a few have said they wished they had come in years earlier, and that the hardest part was working up the courage to ask the first question.

That is the whole point. Nobody should have to be brave to look after their own health.

Looking after your hauora this week

Mental Health Awareness Week is also a good prompt to check in on our own wellbeing. The Mental Health Foundation’s Five Ways to Wellbeing (Ētahi ara e rima ki te ngākau ora) are a simple, well evidenced place to start, and none of them cost a thing:

• Connect, me whakawhanaunga Time with whānau and friends is one of the strongest protectors of mental health we have.
• Be active, me kori tonu. Moving your body, in whatever way suits you, lifts mood as well as fitness.
• Take notice, me aro tonu. Slowing down and paying attention to the moment helps quieten a busy mind.
• Keep learning, me ako tonu. Trying something new gives us a sense of purpose and progress.
• Give, tukua. Doing something for someone else is one of the more reliable routes to feeling good ourselves.

Small, steady changes to sleep, movement, connection and routine can make a real difference to how we feel day to day.

If you are finding things harder than that, please reach out for proper support. Talking to a therapist or counsellor helps a great many people, and there are free options in New Zealand. Just a Thought (justathought.co.nz) offers free, evidence based online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) courses for things like anxiety, low mood, stress and sleep, built for an Aotearoa audience and available whenever suits you. It is a genuinely good place to start, and your GP can point you towards further help if you need it.

Where we fit, and where we do not

Our doctors are here to talk with you about medicinal cannabis and whether it might be an appropriate option for you. We are not a mental health service. If you are really struggling with your mental health, the right people to support you may be your GP, a counsellor or therapist, or a service like the ones above, and we will always encourage you to stay connected with them. What we can promise is that when the conversation does turn to cannabis, you will be met with respect, good information and no judgement.

Marking the week with you

Stigma is beaten in small moments. One honest conversation. One question asked out loud. One person deciding they will not carry the shame any longer.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, that is our commitment: to keep building a space where people can look after their health, all of it, without fear of being judged. If you have a story about your own experience, our Stop the Stigma campaign (stopthestigma.co.nz) is always open to hearing it. And if you simply have a question you have been sitting on, you are very welcome to book a free nurse call and ask it.

Ngā mihi, and look after yourselves and each other this week.