Better choice of words

An unfortunate consequence of the not unusual use of the term “mental illness” when talking about emotional health (“Taking off the mask”, September 9) is that it reinforces a disease narrative.

This tends to take attention away from positive messages such as those touched on in the article for improving our individual well-being.

For example, feeling suicidal because you have not disclosed that you are gay points to our emotional need to act authentically in how we lead our lives.

Mike King’s personal story tells us something about how important and, at times, difficult it is for us to change the way we work to enrich and add meaning to our lives.

Rick Mann (St Kilda, Victoria, Australia)

There is a lot spoken about how to coax people to enjoy working longer each day than is mentally tolerable.

I worked for several years for a well-managed company that limited the hours worked to an intelligent level, and the firm prospered. Then our enlightened general manager left and a theory-driven new man instigated a system whereby junior managers avoided going home before he left the building.

This business no longer exists, which may be a coincidence. But surely working longer than is sensible should be avoided, rather than having management strain to alleviate the effects.

Clifford Owler (Howick, Auckland) BANNING FOSSIL VEHICLES

China has announced that it will set a deadline for carmakers to end sales of fossil-fuelled vehicles.

Surely New Zealand could become as progressive as China and other nations that have announced plans for bans on sales of internalcombustion-engine vehicles, including Norway, the Netherlands, the UK and France.

Rob Buchanan (Kerikeri) RING THE BELL

It’s fabulous news that Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral will be rebuilt. It’s a gem in the gloom of bad political comments and weather events.

It would be great if ChristChurch Cathedral cards could be printed – perhaps with a black and white image of the original building – that people could buy as Christmas or gift cards, with a donation going

towards the rebuild.

Even tiny contributions would be forever enshrined in the building and remembered with pride.

Clare Dudley (Tuateawa, Coromandel) PERILS OF IMPEACHMENT

“A step too far” ( Editorial, September 2) correctly made the point that impeachment is not the answer to the problem of US President Donald Trump.

A history professor at Yale University told the BBC that the passions of the 1850s, which led to the Civil War are similar to those of today.

And road signs I’ve seen south of the Mason-Dixon line read “Keep your Confederate money, boy – the South’s

gonna rise again.”

Denis Hewett (Kerikeri) TACKLING SUICIDE

I found what John Scott Werry had to say on suicide prevention ( Letters, September 9) frustratingly imprecise.

Removing childhood adversity to reduce suicide numbers seems indirect and expensive. Childhood deprivation – material and mental – abounds in countries with much lower suicide rates than ours.

If we were to apply Occam’s razor to the problem, we’d look at depression, mental illness, impulsiveness, isolation and serious medical problems as more direct causes of suicide. Each of these can be

treated given resources and awareness.

Or we could put on a big push to limit access to alcohol and discourage under-21s from drinking. It is estimated in the US that this alone would cut the suicide rate by at least a quarter.

Robert Myers (Auckland Central)

Japan, which has a rate of youth suicide similar to New Zealand’s, kept monthly records over a number of years to look for a pattern. Researchers discovered suicides among school-age children peaked in the first week back after their longest break.

After further

investigation, it was concluded that more than a third of all youth suicides were a direct result of bullying in schools.

Such statistics deserve the attention of authorities here. It should be a simple matter to peruse or keep records to see if there is a match-up with Japan’s monthly figures. And of

possibly greater relevance would be a comparison of suicide rates between schools where bullying is a known problem and those known to be bullying-free.

Gary Hollis (Mellons Bay, Auckland) NIGHTLY GRIND

Thank you for bringing the work of Professor Mauro Farella of the University of Otago Dental School on tooth grinding and clenching to the attention of readers ( Health, August 19). He is doing marvellous work there with the facial-patch monitoring tool.

Earlier groundbreaking work on tooth-grinding and clenching was done by Dr Ronald Every, who was an Otago graduate, external examiner and lecturer.

While in a psychiatrically orientated dental practice in Christchurch from 1939-64, Every discovered the function and evolutionary significance of tooth-grinding in humans and other mammals. He found that tooth-grinding was not a bad habit but a fundamental, genetically inherited behaviour or instinct in most mammals, including all humans (not just “8% of adults”), to sharpen their teeth by forcibly grinding them together, which he called “thegosis”.

This ensures that their teeth are effective inbuilt weapons for defence and tools for eating, which was necessary for survival.

Every gained an international reputation for successfully treating patients, some of whom were suicidal from head pains that were considered untreatable by others. His findings were published the Lancet in 1960 and 1965.

From 1965 to the 1980s, he held research positions as a palaeoanthropologist and lectured on thegotics, mainly its evolutionary significance, in universities and museums worldwide, a number of which published his scientific papers, notably “Sharpness of teeth in man and other primates”, which Yale University put out.

Karl Every (Bromley, Christchurch)

Mauro Farella’s facial patches for monitoring tooth-grinding and clenching offer hope to people like me.

My dentist found that chronic nerve pain on the left side of my face, including the ear, jaw and eye, was a result of tooth-grinding.

After reading the findings of Dr Ronald Every, I learnt that tooth-grinding is intensified by stress, and I now realise I need to let go of some things that are beyond my control.

A facial patch would alert me to grinding and clenching movements and be of enormous benefit.

Margo Wilkinson (Russley, Christchurch) HUNTING AND PECKING

As I wander the halls of power, I am amazed to see so many highly paid executives tapping their computers using two fingers. And management experts wonder how to improve productivity?

Don Goodall (Whangarei)