Hinengaro Tangata Toa - The Mind of a Warrior

TUI TAURUA

Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Rahiri, Ngāti Kawa, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu 

Experiences of twenty-plus years from my first admission were thirty years of continuous psychiatric admissions. Taking up to twenty tablets a day had me overmedicated and sitting on the couch. Westernised practices weren’t working, and unhelpful suicidal actions were not only risk-taking but the continuous awakening in hospital emergency departments certainly impacted my hinengaro oranga destiny and therefore my future.

My korero for this presentation is to share the practices on my recovery journey while highlighting the importance of our Te Ao Māori worldview on us as Māori with Mental Health Lived Experience. This approach will also show that my application not only transformed but healed my present.