Past Programs
Diseases and Disorders - 2003
2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Pox on the Brain
31/08/2003
Syphilis has been described as 'the disease that dare not speak its name'. Is this because it's so often been mistaken for other diseases, including measles, toxoplasmosis, manic-depression and schizophrenia? Or is it the case that this sneaky STD is the skeleton in the closet of some of our most famous writers, musicians and politicians - many of whom are thought to have created their greatest works under sufferance with syphilis? This week, All In The Mind explores the history, the cures and the people of this remerging disease. So pass the mercury-laced chocolates as Sue Clark investigates the plight of 'pox on the brain'.
An Aneurysm in the Family?
04/05/2003
The ticking time bomb that is an aneurysm. They can burst with very little warning and having one can be like living on a precipice. Surgery has its risks and life after a ruptured aneurysm brings all sorts of challenges. Only 1 in 10,000 of us are likely to experience one of these little beasts, usually in our brain. But in some extraordinary cases they run in the family across generations - mum, daughter, aunt, son - and an international study is trying to find out why this is. Sue Clark reports.
A Mental Health Odyssey in India Episode 4 - "Is Mental Illness Universal?: Culture & Psychiatry"
23/03/2003
In the final episode of All in the Mind's Indian Mental Health Odyssey, Natasha Mitchell considers culture and madness. Psychiatrists the world over seek universal labels for common psychological and psychiatric disorders - but is Western medicine culture-blind? Is the experience of schizophrenia, depression, suicide or anxiety the same across all cultures? In India, a country of over 16 languages, thousands of Hindu deities and 1 billion people, some psychiatrists argue that culture is the key and their work is presenting serious challenges to the profession.
A Mental Health Odyssey in India. Episode 2 - "The Banyan"
09/03/2003
All in the Mind's continuing series on mental health in India. In 1993 two young college friends found a near-naked woman on the streets of Chennai. She was psychotic, alone, and her very visible suffering was ignored by all those around her. So begins the story of The Banyan - a shelter for women who are homeless and mentally ill. The powerful motto of The Banyan is "I exist therefore I am", and today it is temporary home to over 260 women from all corners of this vast country. These are the stories of women who have been abused, raped, lost, ignored, violated and subjugated: the stories of the invisible women of India.
A Mental Health Odyssey in India: Episode 1 - "Family And Stigma"
02/03/2003
Natasha Mitchell takes you on a mental health odyssey! In this first episode - family and stigma. In India arranged marriages are very much the norm, and the joint family, where a man and a woman live intimately with his extended family, is still a powerful institution. Over 90 per cent of people with severe mental illness, especially outside of the major cities, are cared for at home by their families within their communities, and may never receive a diagnosis. But in a country where families are fundamentally changing, and liberalization and urbanization are major social forces - as primary caregivers families are feeling the strain.
Media Interrupted: Mental Health and the Media
23/02/2003
"Insane killer on rampage!" How often have we read headlines like this? Mental illness frequently gets a bad wrap in the media. It's stigmatized, misrepresented and the multitudes of people who experience mental health problems are often painted as "other" or even dangerous. This week, New Zealand radio broadcaster Mike Gourley points the microphone in the opposite direction, on his fellow journalists, in an effort to challenge their own practices - offering some very interesting revelations.
