Mental Health
How MPs cope with strains of the job
MPs have some of the highest pressure jobs in New Zealand, and the stressors aren’t always what you might think. So does anyone help them carry the load, and how do they personally cope? Audio
Boris Heifets: Hope as a powerful placebo
Ketamine - an anaesthetic drug primarily developed as a horse tranquiliser - is also known to be a powerful psychedelic. Audio
Rural Riders spins farmers' wheels - 'I smile a lot here'
Rural Riders is a chance for farmers to get off the farm on a bike, spin some yarns and focus on the dips and the jumps rather than the weather and the milk price. Audio
E8: I'd like to find a sister
Kirsty tries to find out if Nellie did have another baby, and where that baby might be, but gets stuck in a kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucracy. Sarah reflects on her journey to find Nellie. We talk… Audio
E7: What happened to Nellie?
Nellie's coronial file reveals more about her death - and her life. There are badly healed broken bones, a skin graft, evidence of a fall three days before she died in which she broke her nose. Was… Audio
E6: Annemarie
Kirsty and Sarah go to see Mavis, Nellie's sister, who tells them that she thinks Nellie was raped, which led to her breakdown and incarcertation. Mavis tells Sarah about the day she was born, and how… Audio
E5: My daughter, Sarah
Sarah goes to meet Gordon. We learn that he can remember Nellie, and remembers being caught with her in the bushes. Gordon tells us about his time at the asylum, and Sarah takes him on an outing where… Audio
E4: A trip to the asylum
The mystery relative turns out to be Sharon, her father's sister. She decides to fly to Australia to meet her newly-discovered niece. Sharon tells us how her family was extremely poor and her mother… Audio
E3: I found him!
Sarah and Kirsty call in the big guns: DNA. A strong match comes up: a woman who shares 28% of Sarah's DNA. Is it Nellie's first child? Eventually, Fran, the genealogist, suggests the match could be… Audio
E2: Women and Girls
Kirsty and Sarah start investigating from opposite sides of the world. We learn what it was like to live at Porirua, and fight through red tape to get Sarah's adoption records, which reveal more about… Audio
E1: Email from a stranger
Out of the blue, Kirsty receives an email from a stranger titled "Investigating the possible murder of my mother". The author is Sarah, a young woman who was born to Nellie Wilson in a psychiatric… Audio
'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers
Every Thursday afternoon, Banks Peninsula farmers head to the beach in Hickory Bay and ride waves to forget about work. Farmer and surfing coach, Kristin Savage, runs the Surfing for Farmers… Audio
Trailer: Nellie's Baby
Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only the start of the story.
…Palmerston North Hospital under scrutiny after patient death
Palmerston North Hospital is coming under scrutiny over the death of a patient, believed to be by suicide. It's the latest in a string of deaths in either patients of the hospital's mental health… Audio
Emily Writes: a working parent doing her best during the holidays
For parents who only have a week or two off work over summer, it's hard seeing pictures of other people's kids "smiling from ear to ear" on sunny beaches, says Emily Writes. The Wellington writer and… Audio
Dr Josh Cohen: The way out of burnout for a healthy 2024
Burnout didn't become a recognised diagnosis until 1974, when German-American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger was encountering people he described as having "a physical or mental collapse caused by… Audio
Still farming, just doing it differently
Country Life meets former dairy farmer Lance Gillespie, who's launching a kiwi style chicken trailer. Pasture-raised egg production fits with his interest in regenerative farming practices and… Video, Audio
Catherine de Lange: The best exercise for the mind
Most of us feel better once we get the blood pumping a bit, but are there exercises that work better for our mental health than others? Catherine de Lange is a science author, specialising in… Audio
Mental health support top issue for secondary schools
A national survey shows support for students with mental health and wellbeing problems has become the number one issue for secondary schools.
The New Zealand Council for Educational Research… Audio
Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves: Recording loneliness in Aged Care
The team behind a unique research project looking into loneliness in aged care homes in Australia has garnered international attention for its approach. Study lead, Monash University Sociologist Dr… Audio