Most high-risk mental health calls to 1737 come from women and teens

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-07-11 00:01

New Zealand

Image by Liana S via UnSplash

The 1737 mental health helpline saw contact surges during major national events like COVID-19 lockdowns and the Christchurch mosque attacks. A study of over 700,000 calls and texts found that high-risk calls triggering police or ambulance involvement made up less than 0.5% of contacts. Women made up nearly two-thirds of these high-risk calls, despite being just over half of total users. The team says this is in line with research showing women are at increased risk of mental distress and that men are less likely to reach out for needed support. Teens also constituted more than a quarter of these high-risk calls, even though they accounted for 15% of all contacts. Text messaging was the main way young people reached out, highlighting the need for youth-friendly mental health support.

Media release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

The 1737 Need to Talk telehealth service (mental health call and text helpline) was launched in Aotearoa New Zealand in June 2017, providing the public with the ability to call or text when they need mental health support. The aim of this research is to describe the utilisation of the 1737 Need to Talk telehealth service. The study details the growth in the number of specific demographics reaching out for mental health support to 1737 and may be indicative of the need for increasing mental health support.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: AUT University, Whakarongorau Aotearoa | New Zealand Telehealth Services,

Funder: N/A Competing interests: This article uses Whakarongorau Aotearoa data. Several authors of this article are employees of Whakarongorau Aotearoa (as stated in the author’s information). DC: Co-opted member of NZ National Committee, RANZCP (Tū Akaakaroa); Board member/Deputy Chair Safe Man Safe Family trust. VT: Deputy Chair of the Australasian College of Paramedicine’s Research Advisory Committee. RL: Chair of NZ Telehealth Forum.

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