Why do Sunday nights feel so much harder than any other night of the week?

That was the question at the centre of this week's episode of The Nutters Club on Newstalk ZB, as host Hamish Williams and guest co-host, addictions specialist Susie Morrison, explored the impact that fear, failure and rejection can have on mental wellbeing.

Standing in for regular psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald, Morrison joined Williams for an open discussion about why the programme airs between 11pm and 1am on Sunday nights, a time they say is consistently one of the most challenging periods of the week for many New Zealanders.

The pair explained that as the weekend comes to an end, anxieties about work, relationships, finances and life's uncertainties often intensify. Rather than focusing on clinical diagnoses, the programme encouraged listeners to examine how they respond to fear and how changing perspective can help reduce its hold.

Williams shared several personal stories, including missing out on a television job early in his career. What initially felt like personal rejection was later revealed to be the result of an unrelated organisational restructure, a reminder that setbacks are not always a reflection of personal shortcomings.

Listeners responded with deeply personal calls and messages throughout the programme. Some spoke about growing up with unrealistic expectations, others described overcoming fear through experience, while several discussed the challenges of living with mental illness and navigating treatment.

One caller expressed concerns about compulsory treatment under New Zealand's Mental Health Act. Williams encouraged the caller to contact the Health and Disability Advocacy Service, emphasising the importance of ensuring people understand their rights and have access to independent support while acknowledging the caller's concerns without attempting to resolve complex clinical issues on air.

Another caller reflected on overcoming a lifetime of anxiety and perfectionism, explaining how changing their perspective and eventually finding an effective treatment plan had transformed their life.

Throughout the programme, Williams and Morrison returned to a common message: while people cannot control every outcome, they can often control how they interpret setbacks and how they respond to them.

The discussion concluded with an invitation for listeners to rethink what success and failure really mean, encouraging New Zealanders facing difficult times to remember that fear is a universal experience and one that does not have to define the future.