Why so sad?

How miserable do you have to be before you take an antidepressant? Even the experts can’t agree.

But what’s clear is New Zealanders are being prescribed the psychiatric medication in alarming numbers. In our “depression hot-spots” – Canterbury and Otago – almost one person in seven was prescribed an antidepressant last year.

In the January issue of North & South magazine (on shelf Dec. 13) Donna Chisholm finds out why so many people in a middle-class, peace-time and relatively well-off country are popping “happy pills”.

Showdown at New Chums!

Wealthy property developers with grand plans for a pristine piece of coast; rowdy opponents hell-bent on stopping them. We’ve been here before, right? Actually, there’s more to the proposed residential development at Coromandel’s New Chums beach than you might think.

The original development proposed earlier this year for the isolated Coromandel community generated a huge public response – Thames-Coromandel District Council received more than 1000 submissions, nearly all against the development.

In an exclusive report in the January edition of North & South, Stacey Anyan reveals a new plan for New Chums that is yet to be made public.

Soft on crims?

Is home detention a soft option for crims who should be locked up? Or is it a positive alternative to prison for those tough enough to survive it? Joanna Wane puts the controversial “home D” scheme on report.

Figures released to North & South by the Department of Corrections show a home detention breach rate of 27.3 per cent in the 2009-2010 financial year. And, remember former league star Brent Todd, convicted for his part in a $2 million pokie-machine fraud? He spent his 12-month penance sunbathing and pumping weights at his best mate Matthew Ridge’s Auckland pad.

Some argue home detention has economic benefits for taxpayers and helps ease prisoners’ rehabilitation. However, the ripped-off owners of a Taranaki supermarket feel done over twice after an employee caught with her fingers in the till wasn’t jailed.

Who’s your Kiwi of the year?

North & South’s New Zealander of the Year Award celebrates 15 years in the January issue.

And this year, the magazine breaks from tradition to honour an entire community – the people of Canterbury. Their calm, courageous and compassionate response to September 4’s devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake truly marked the Cantabs as outstanding citizens.

Mike White meets some of those affected, who best reflected the province’s selfless, resilient attitude.

North & South’s New Zealander of the Year Award is designed to celebrate and reward those who have made a difference to New Zealand. Now in its 15th year, the award recognises the country’s real achievers: not necessarily the high-profile heroes, but the people who embody the qualities New Zealanders admire.

Previous award winners include Auckland University leader and former Oxford University vice-chancellor John Hood; Christchurch-based international sustainable business doyenne Peri Drysdale; outspoken economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan; Dr Philip Bagshaw, founder and champion of Canterbury Charity Hospital; Murray Burton, principal of Elim College in Botany Downs, Auckland; and last year, Dunedin-based animation software entrepreneur Ian Taylor.

It’s all in the January edition of North & South, on newsstands from December 13.