Talking can ease the anguish

At last some sanity in the discussion on what needs to be provided for those suffering from mental illness. When I asked for help for intractable headaches, a long journey through the mental health system began. I’ve lost count of the medications I’ve been prescribed.

What I needed was talk therapy to resolve the underlying issues, not pills to deal with the possible chemical imbalance from trauma. Instead I got two full years of hospitalisation. Throughout I pleaded to talk about what happened (rape and sexual abuse). I estimate my (mis)treatment has cost the country at least $2 million. Good psychotherapy is lots cheaper — and way more effective.

Name withheld.

Mental wellbeing

Deborah Hill Cone rightly points out that overprescription of antidepressants is due to the scarcity of talking treatments. However, she is wrong in two things. First there is no evidence treatment of depression has any impact on suicide. We need to shift our focus from rare unpreventable suicide to depression which is common, painful and treatable.

She is also wrong to argue for the professionalisation of psychotherapy. We do not have the means to achieve that, nor is it necessary. Research over 50 years shows that none of more than 1000 kinds of psychotherapy is any better than any other. All work to some degree.

Depression and other emotional distress has two main overlapping forms. The commonest by far is that due to human and social factors. Medication is neither indicated nor effective. The second is a genetic/biological type which does merit antidepressants, though only a majority of patients will respond.

It would be a costly mistake to try to provide professional mental health care to all needing it when simple human care and compassion and commonsense can alleviate suffering. We need lay persons providing both triage and frontline care well integrated into health-based services. For a start we should drop the word health from mental and replace it with the term, wellbeing. This would put paid to those who think the health service can or should look after the vast numbers with impaired mental wellbeing.

John Werry, Emeritus Professor, Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland.

Haka not respected

Our Ma¯ ori haka, as performed by teams representing New Zealand, is held in deep respect by most countries who play the same codes. England showed us no respect by drowning out the All Black’s haka at Twickenham with loud singing. I believe any country displaying this rudeness should not have the opportunity the next time the two sides meet, to see our haka performed. This naturally would not apply to any of our home internationals as we New Zealanders are proud of these performances.

But the haka should only be performed by a New Zealand international team. This would not apply to any part of the Ma¯ ori culture that demands a haka or any Ma¯ ori representative teams. I believe the majority of New Zealanders would agree our haka is being grossly overdone.

I. S.Thomas, Cambridge.

Chief Justice

A letter from Alison and Rex Beer incorrectly describes judges under the Chief Justice as opposing laws passed by Parliament. Judges interpret the law, they do not oppose the law. Perhaps the public would be better informed by reports of the enormous contribution Chief Justice Sian Elias has made to New Zealand law rather than reporting on her super gold card eligibility.

Jonathan Hudson, Barrister, Manukau.

Roadwork priorities

The project to add a third lane to the southern motorway between Manurewa and Papakura crawls along at a snail’s pace. Almost nobody is working there, and there is hardly any construction equipment. The job, on just 5km of the motorway, is in its fourth year and nowhere near finished. Construction is so slow, and population growth so fast, that traffic on that stretch is in a semipermanent state of rush-hour.

Last weekend I drove past Puhoi and was amazed at the amount of construction activity. This much longer road is being built with much more energy, manpower and resources, even though it feeds a much emptier population area along a much lighter traffic corridor. Why is Manurewa to Papakura being allowed to clog to an impossible level, while so much energy is being put into building another road into empty countryside?

Jeremy Hall, Papakura.

Avoiding drains in lanes

In answer to Jude Lambert’s letter yesterday, I think I can understand why faster riders do not use designated bike lanes. We use the bike lanes and have e-bikes but every time you come to cross a road, and there are many, the lane dips into a sharply designed drain. When you cross those you have to stand on your peddles so as not to injure your butt and your back as you bump across them. We can manage, as we don’t ride fast, but it is no wonder fast riders use the road lanes.

Angela van Winden, Albany.

Naming the cause

It was refreshing to hear Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have the guts to refer to the Melbourne knife attacker as a radical Islamist. He is possibly the only Western leader to do so, other world leaders refuse to. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau calls Isis radicals returning to Canada “travellers”. While the West continues to treat this disease with political correctness and fear, they will continue to take advantage of everything you offer them.

Geoffrey Strickland, Thames.

Halloween is great

Why are there so many killjoy Kiwis like Graeme Leary in yesterday’s letters? Yes, agreed that fireworks should be held during Matariki, it gets darker earlier for one thing, but why attack Halloween? It’s a great chance for children (and adults) to dress up, and many spend a lot of time preparing for it. In New York there is a huge parade of children and adults all dressed up and the streets are lined with spectators and everyone has a great time. Those communities here which do take part have a lot of fun. And if Leary doesn’t want people knocking on his door, all he has to do is put a sign up on his gate saying so. He can then sit indoors and re-read about Scrooge.

Gas must go too

Roger Hall, Takapuna.

In her highly misleading article, Kate Bromfield of the petroleum industry “forecasts” that fossil fuels will be used for decades and can be made cleaner. Well, the industry would say that, wouldn’t they? But it is worth examining this piece of fake news.

First, that natural gas has only half the emissions of coal. While gas produces only 59 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions of coal, it also leaks methane, 86 times more powerful in warming climate than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years. It escapes unburned from wells, processing facilities and pipelines, often unmeasured and unreported. It can increase the impact of gas to equal that of coal. Gas must go too.

Second, billions of dollars over several decades have been spectacularly unsuccessful in making carbon capture and storage economic. By comparison, trying to put the carbon back in the ground makes solar and wind look very cheap. It would require investment equal to the whole petroleum infrastructure, with no return on this capital. And then, would it stay where you put it?

Coal, oil and gas must all be greatly reduced by 2030 and gone by 2050 to protect the climate.

Jeanette Fitzsimons, Thames.

Iain Lees-Galloway

It’s easy to feel some sympathy for Iain Lees-Galloway over the Karel Sroubek saga. There was really no need for him to read the full file as the decision had already been made not to deport Sroubek. I wonder why the mainstream media are so reluctant to dig deep as to who really made the decision or what influence was put on Lees-Galloway to sign it off.

Katherine Swift, Kohimarama.

Library notice boards

Frequently we are told libraries are no longer for reading and studying alone but are now “community centres”. So why is it that the central library has removed all its noticeboards and will no longer allow promotion of any local artistic events such as choirs and orchestral concerts? Surely they should be promoting such events in the city. Does Auckland value the arts or not?

R. Howell, Onehunga.