4 LISTENER MARCH 7 2020
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FEBRUARY 29 - MARCH 6 2
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Sadly, our social environ-
ment often fails to support
people affected by OCD. The
popular view of the disorder
is of an enjoyable passion
for cleanliness and organisa-
tion. This is a stereotype that
trivialises, minimises and
misleads, leading to failure to
recognise and understand the
real condition.
Marion Maw
(Dunedin)
ARTS ATTACK
Some more items to add to
Philip Temple’s list (Letters
February 22). It is proposed to
delete Latin, classical studies
and art history from the NCEA
subject list. Universities will
be next.
Bill Sheat
(Lower Hutt)
The 600,000 books the
National Library plans to elim-
inate from its collection are
those defined as not belonging
to the “core” – New Zealand
and the Pacific. “Foreign”
books are being discarded or
“rehomed”.
The library and the Minister
of Internal Affairs apparently
believe New Zealanders do
not need to know what other
people think or have done if
those things are not published
in books here or in the Pacific.
Listener readers should think
Heart of the
problem
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The sidebar to your heart
disease treatment cover story
(“This is a game changer”,
February 29) misses the point.
The game changer would be if
people were seriously informed
about lifestyle choices.
Type 2 diabetes, unlike type
1, occurs well into a person’s
life and the blame can be laid
almost entirely on poor eating
habits. Why is it that doctors
treat the endgame without
actively pursuing the reasons
for the onset of the disease?
Doctors “hope” that new
drugs will reduce the risk of
heart disease for people with
type 2 diabetes, but that’s
not good enough. For these
people, fewer deaths and a
lower incidence of heart and
kidney disease require just a
few simple lifestyle changes.
Willow Alber
(Westport)
BRING BACK HELEN
Helen Clark’s strong and ethi-
cal leadership in dealing with
Winston Peters in 2008, when
she insisted he stand down
as foreign minister, is in stark
contrast to Jacinda Ardern’s
weak response regarding Peters
now (Editorial, February 15).
The Listener is giving away two general admission
tickets to the New Zealand Military Tattoo in
Palmerston North on April 4, 2020. More than 600
world-class performers, including our Army, Navy and
Air Force bands, will come together in New Zealand
for just the fourth time in history.
To enter, go to noted.co.nz/win/, or send your name and address
to Military Tattoo, NZ Listener, Private Bag 92515, Wellesley St,
Auckland 1141. Entries close at midnight, March 15, 2020.
WIN TICKETS TO
THE NEW ZEALAND
MILITARY TATTOO
NE
W
Z
EA
LA
ND
D
EF
EN
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F
OR
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Clark gave a masterclass in
political strategy this month
when she ensured that Ardern
and other ministers intervened
over the RNZ Concert fiasco.
If we want an effective prime
minister who gets action, we
should bring back Clark.
Greg Wilson
(Auckland)
NATURE, NURTURE AND OCD
The intricate dance between
nature and nurture is fascinat-
ing, but equally important is
the role of the social environ-
ment in supporting well-being
(“Gene pull”, February 22). To
me, as a member of Fixate, a
New Zealand support group
for obsessive compulsive disor-
der (OCD), these key concepts
resonate.
OCD occurs when someone
becomes stuck in a cycle of
unwanted thoughts, emo-
tional discomfort and mental
or physical behaviours. A
sleep-deprived mother can be
overwhelmed by worries that
she could harm her baby. She
may undertake elaborate meas-
ures to avoid doing so.
Why is it that a few individ-
uals (about 2%) develop severe
mental distress, when others
are troubled by milder discom-
fort and the majority discard
unwanted thoughts and toler-
ate difficult emotions? Genetic
makeup is important.
Factors early in life such
as premature birth also
contribute, possibly by subtly
altering brain development.
A predisposed individual
may then develop the disorder
when stressed by bullying,
physical trauma or death of a