mental health

Ioane, who made his representative debut for New Zealand as 19-year-old at the Wellington Sevens in 2014, has long been heralded as an elite prospect but has yet to make the leap to test level.

After a roller-coaster season with the Blues in 2019, former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen left Ioane out of the squad, citing his fitness and attitude as road-blocks to his inclusion.

Massey University's Sione Vaka spent most of his career researching cultural understandings of mental health and the use of appropriate tools.

Dr Vaka is in Tonga attending the country's first mental health symposium and said the biggest problem sufferers have was dealing with cultural stigma.

"That there might be something wrong that the family has done, some sort of sin or some sort of curse that happens to them," he said.

Tonga will go to the polls in November and the head of the Tonga Mental Health and Disabilities Association is hoping improvements in the sector will follow.

RNZI reports Leonaitasi Hoponoa has been involved in Tonga's first mental health symposium this week and said the event aims to boost awareness.

Mr Hoponoa said around 10 percent of Tongans suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives but the government support hadn't always been there.

In fact, centuries before Instagram and activewear, "doing yoga" didn't involve the body at all.

At its core, yoga is a practice for tapping into your mind and poses are just one way of doing that.

Yoga's philosophy is based on eight limbs; only one of them, asana, is about the poses. The rest: yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, are best described as moral and ethical codes to live by.

You know the scene — you're making dinner, calling the plumber/doctor/mechanic, checking homework and answering work emails — at the same time.

All the while, you are being peppered with questions by your nearest and dearest "where are my shoes?", "do we have any cheese?", "what time's my basketball game?", "what are we doing next Saturday night?".

But even if you know this experience well, you may not have the language to describe it.

How does it feel for you? What emotions come up in your mind and body?

What about when you realise you've left your mobile device at home, or in a taxi? Are you bereft? Do you crave it?

Last year, 84 per cent of Australians owned a smartphone — and among young people, that figure was 94 per cent.

And our dependence on mobile devices has crept up on us over time, leading to a range of problems, University of Washington Information School's Professor David Levy said.

The singer is seen crying in the 12-minute video, which she said she was uploading in an effort to help people understand mental illness.

"I am now living in a motel in New Jersey. I'm all by myself," she said.

"Mental illness, it's like drugs, it doesn't [care] who you are, and equally what's worse, the stigma doesn't care who you are."

"There's absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist - the sweetest man on earth, who says I'm his hero - and that's about the only thing keeping me alive at the moment... and that's kind of pathetic.

Owens, who took charge of the 2015 RWC decider between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham, has previously revealed he attempted to commit suicide as he struggled to understand his sexuality before coming out as gay.

And the courageous Welshman, arguably rugby's most high-profile match official, has taken part in a BBC television programme about male eating disorders to urge others suffering from similar problems to seek help.

Guildford's journey back to professional rugby has taken another step forward being signed to play for Waikato in this season's Mitre 10 provincial cup competition.

RNZI reports alcohol and off-field problems have plagued Guildford's career, culminating with the New South Wales Waratahs terminating his Super rugby contract last year.

He's also played for the Hurricanes, the Crusaders and the French club Clermont, where there were also problems during his stints there.

New Zealand has joined Global Alliance to provide a grant to find better strategies to support Maori and Pacific youth with mental health problems.

The Health Research Council's Kath McPherson said mental health outcomes continued to be inequitable in New Zealand.

She said the research was needed as a recent study in the New Zealand Medical Journal shows Pacific youth in this country are three times more likely to attempt suicide.