95bFM Living in deprived areas linked to ‘deaths of despair’
17 June, 2026
Interview by Thomas Malone, adapted by Chloe Porter
New research has shown that people living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas have a higher risk of premature ‘deaths of despair’, including suicide, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths.
A study published in Clinical Psychological Science shows deprived areas face up to as much as 60% higher risk of these deaths of despair. Principal investigator on the team, and University of Auckland Professor of Social Sciences, Barry Milne, spoke with 95bFM's The Wire to discuss how neighbourhoods are linked to deaths of despair and how we can address this issue.
The study looked at two separate sets of data. The first came from Stats NZ’s ‘Integrated Data Infrastructure’ looking at national population data. The other came from a longitudinal Dunedin study tracking the behaviour of babies born in Dunedin from 1972 to 1973. Both studies revealed that “people who lived in the more deprived neighbourhoods had a syndrome of despair.”
The study controlled for variables such as a poor childhood, physical and mental health problems, low education or were more likely to have a family history of mental health. “When we control for those things, you still see this association between the neighbourhood you live in and your death and your syndrome of despair in that case.”
This research is supported by other studies worldwide investigating deaths of despair, such as by the US National Institute on Aging and the UK Medical Research Council. With this knowledge, Milne’s team determined that deaths of despair in New Zealand were associated with poorer living conditions, so a proactive and systematic approach to policy solutions is more productive than a reactive individual approach.
“There is a fatalism amongst people who end up having a death of despair. They're more likely to believe that there's little they can do to improve their situation. There's a community-level sense of alienation from people who live in more violent situations.” Therefore, solutions to reducing these deaths must consider aspects of the neighbourhood.
Milne believes “that if you improve a neighbourhood, you can actually improve people's mental health.” He references a study from Philadelphia that consisted of selecting random lots to either have nothing done to them or be cleaned up, and a third selection of lots to be planted with trees. The evidence found that those living near the empty lots that were turned into green areas had the greatest improvement in their mental health.
While the issue is significant, there are angles for government response. These findings suggest that addressing neighbourhood deprivation through investing in the community would play an important role in reducing deaths of despair across New Zealand.
