
AS EVERYONE IS AWARE, CHRISTCHURCH was hit by another big quake on Sunday. Since then, we've had a series of strong aftershocks. While, thankfully, no one
was killed or injured and damage to property appears to be minimal, the quake has come as a big psychological kick in the guts.
In an editorial, The Press comments that the quake has come at a time when the city is far from being given a clean bill of health. It points to the city's
poor state of mental health:
"In May last year, Canterbury doctors said the city's mental health - once on a par with most other districts - was approaching crisis. Emergency mental
health cases had risen by more than one-third. The number of children and teenagers needing psychological help had leaped two-thirds.
While some continued to suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress, the more widespread impact of the quakes was on rates of anxiety, depression and substance
abuse."
It also points to the ugly reality of the increasing number of people in Christchurch and Canterbury who have attempted suicide . I wrote about this in another
column. This attracted a good deal of flak from some readers who, when they weren't abusing me, felt I had some kind of 'obligation' to be more 'positive' about Christchurch.
But while The Press recognises the impact the quakes have had on the city and regions' mental health, it is only telling half the story. We can lay the
blame on the quakes for the adverse psychological impact they have had on the community but that absolves human agencies of any responsibility, or - at least - minimise their culpability.

The Press says that 'we are in this together.' The newspaper, one of the chief cheerleaders for the government's botched rebuild, wants us to believe Christchurch
is one 'big neighbourhood' we're we all 'muck in'. I'm expecting Jim Mora and his team to be knocking on my door any minute now, ready and willing to fix up my garden.
No, we're not all living in one 'big neighbourhood'. No, we're not all 'mucking in'. We're not all 'in this together'.
We should not allow this quake to obscure the fact that it is local people who have been forced to carry the burden for this botched rebuild. It is local people
who have been forced to make the sacrifices. Local people are paying for it not only economically but also in terms of their health and well being. The level of stress might of been ratcheted up by this new quake but the
level of stress within the community was already high - as it has been for the past five years as this disastrous corporate-friendly rebuild has dragged on.
Why is the so called "Recovery" taking so long? There are empty sites ready to build on, so what's up? Very suspicious. Are the Major Construction Cos. who organize the minor ones, deliberately slowing the rebuild? Perhaps, they did not get the discounted business deals they expected from local Govt.? after the shake downs? A bully's tantrum, maybe; teaching Council who the real boss should be.
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