Ngā Whakāwhitinga (standing at the crossroads): How Māori understand what Western psychiatry calls “schizophrenia”

This project explored how Māori understand experiences commonly labelled “schizophrenic” or “psychotic”. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 57 Māori participants who had either personal experiences labelled as “psychosis” or “schizophrenia”, or who work with people with such experiences; including tangata whaiora (users of mental health services), tohunga (traditional healers), kaumatua/kuia (elders), Māori clinicians, cultural support workers and students. Kaupapa Māori Theory and Personal Construct Theory guided the research within a qualitative methodology. The research found that participants held multiple explanatory models for experiences commonly labelled “psychotic” or “schizophrenic”. The predominant explanations were spiritual and cultural. It seems that cultural beliefs and practices related to mental health within Māori communities remain resilient, despite over a century of contact with mainstream education and health services. Other explanations included psychosocial constructions (interpersonal trauma and drug abuse), historical trauma (colonisation) and biomedical constructions (chemical brain imbalance). Participants (both tangata whaiora and health pr