Platz’s path from psychosis to wellness
“I was terrified. I wanted to kill people,” says the softly spoken, friendly Platz.
In the 90s he was often to be found handcuffed in a padded room at Porirua Hospital’s secure psychiatric unit, suffering from psychosis, including the ongoing delusion that he was Jesus Christ, sent to “cleanse the world of the asylums”.
Platz has had several diagnoses since then, including schizoaffective disorder, bipolar, and post-traumatic stress disorder from seven years of sexual abuse as a child.
One day, in the middle of a psychotic episode in hospital, he had a rational moment.
“I suddenly thought I should be careful. I didn’t want to get lost in a hole in the mental health system,” says Platz.
Within three months he was out, and he spent the next two years in bed, questioning his identity.
“I was Gary Platz, I was Jesus Christ. I had no idea who I was,” he explains.
Platz’s partner took him to a social group, gradually he realised life wasn’t over and he got involved in mental health research and education. Now he works at Wellink Trust, with two personal goals: to find recovery opportunities for those with mental illness and to make sure sufferers’ voices are heard. Mental Health Awareness week is one such opportunity. In the past year, one in five New Zealanders has suffered from a mental illness. The most common combination of disorders is anxiety and mood disorders.
“People experience lesser psychotic symptoms all the time. Eighty percent of people have heard voices. People look in the mirror and think they’re ugly. We have an elevated view of ourselves, we feel pain,” Platz explains, “We all need to be well. No one should minimise the extreme distress mental health patients suffer, when the body’s chemistry is geared up to shut down.”
Platz still has his bad days, admitting that until recently he seemed to “go mad every January”, but instead of going to hospital, he manages his illness himself, camping out in his garden.
Mental Health Awareness Week, 10-16th October.









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