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
Long White Cloud Productions
Made with funding from NZ On Air
Section on the history of mental health treatment in New Zealand, Te Ara website
Interactive report on mental health abuse and care in NZ, Stuff website, 2017
Newsroom story on changes in mental health treatment in NZ, October 2017
Article on criticism of Christchurch's Hillmorton Hospital, Stuff, July 2021
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