Sun, 04 Oct 2009 4:34p.m.
By Adam Hollingworth
Some of his rugby performances were out of this world, but it's the online depression initiative fronted by John Kirwan that has caught the interest of NASA.
Now astronauts look like they could tap into the self-help programme developed here on future flights to Mars.
New Zealand leads the world in treating depression online, and now NASA is taking notes.
"Astronauts are selected to be very healthy, but at the same time you can imagine them being on a stressful long six-month mission – isolated, confined, dangerous - you know, that can even get to the strongest of us," says psychologist Dr Jim Cartreine.
Dr Cartreine has been here for NASA to see how our Ministry of Health's depression initiative could help astronauts.
"If you do have someone who has a problem with depression it can be a showstopper," he says - especially as all NASA's flights will soon be long. Any Mars mission will take two-and-a-half years.
Both NASA and New Zealand's programmes are fronted by so-called coaches who guide people through an online journal and questionnaires.
People with depression often feel more comfortable interacting with a computer than facing a therapist, and in the case of astronauts in space, it may be the only choice.
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