Inside Out - Mental Health over 140 years

This episode of the long-running series made by and for Kiwis with disabilities focusses on the evolution of mental health care in Aotearoa, specifically in Christchurch. Pākehā settlers 'didn't plan' for mental illness in their fledgling society, and soon the jails were full. Presenter Kate Hirst takes a tour of Sunnyside Hospital, built in 1863, a physical and philosophical embodiment of changing approaches to treating mental illness. She speaks with academic Warwick Brunton and  ex-hospital staff and patients about New Zealand's move to community-based care, and visits a residential facility run by Stepping Stone Trust.

...I had asylum here, and I'm all in favour of that; I've come and asked for it at different times. I don't like so much mental health in the community because everyone sees you at your worst, and thinks you're always like that, and then you're judged on your worst. Whereas if you seek asylum somewhere and you're taken away in your worst phases, people never see you.

– Former Sunnyside patient Nicolette Stead on the need for privacy when people are in crisis

Key Cast & Crew

Kate Hirst

Reporter, Research

Paul Skelton

Sound

Storm Johnson

Compile Editor

Bryan Williams

Producer

Paul Enticott

Editor

Gerard Smyth

Director, Camera Operator