Play looks back from better place

Dunedin playwright and producer Haki Davis makes final edits to the script of his first play The...
Dunedin playwright and producer Haki Davis makes final edits to the script of his first play The Prince of the Psychiatric System, which is based on his experiences as a psychiatric patient. PHOTO: CHRISTINE O’CONNOR
Haki Davis says if someone had told him 20 years ago that he would write a play about his experiences as a psychiatric patient and have it performed, he would have told them that they were crazy.

But a lot had changed in his life since then, he said.

Mr Davis was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1984 and put on a medication which had serious side effects that put him off psychiatric care.

"It gave me a condition called lockjaw, where my jaw opened slowly and kept opening until it felt like it was going to snap in half.

"It put me off taking the pills.

"I was very non-compliant. I never used to take my meds.

"I promised myself I would avoid the medication at all costs — it was just because of those bad experiences."

His fear was such that he avoided the mental health system for about 10 years.

However, Mr Davis was reacquainted with the system in 1999 after he moved to Dunedin and became unwell.

It was there that doctors changed his diagnosis to schizo-affective disorder — a mental health condition which includes schizophrenia and mood disorder symptoms — and put him on injections instead of pills.

It had made a major difference to his life, he said.

"My family, my belief that there’s a God, the psychiatric system itself, my psychiatric nurses and psychiatrists — they helped me come to trust the system.

"Just talking about it really helped."

Mr Davis said his Maori culture also helped him through his journey.

He involved himself in a project which aimed to name Maori chiefs in photographs stored at Te Papa, in Wellington.

"Te Papa didn’t know who they were. So I went on a journey to discover who these men were. I’ve been able to name about 50 of them."

He said the project gave his life purpose and he became more receptive to taking medication because it helped him focus on the work.

Since then, he has written a play called The Prince of the Psychiatric System, which is based on his personal experiences while receiving treatment at various psychiatric wards around New Zealand.

It aims to highlight the stigma and discrimination many people face while being treated in a mental health facility.

He said the play highlighted some of the fears and dilemmas people faced while being treated with medication “and with force if necessary".

"The play explores some dark places, but it also has a message of hope.

"The main character learns that he can use his Maori culture to achieve better outcomes for himself and his family, rather than violence and anger."

The new play has been produced by the local branch of Te Kete Pounamu, and is funded by the Mental Health Foundation, the Like Minds Like Mine programme and Te Kete Pounamu.

It will be performed at Dunedin’s New Athenaeum Theatre on May 29 and 30.

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