We can’t allow ourselves to return to an Ireland where emotional struggles are brushed under the carpet.
This week we plan to hold a very special night in Dublin; speakers including Blindboy Boatclub, Niall Breslin (Bressie) and Cat O Broin will join JOE to talk about mental health.
The issue has been in the news more than ever lately, given the widely reported plans of the Department of Health and the HSE to switch €12m from funds that had been allocated to the 2016 mental health budget in Ireland to other areas of the health service.
Throughout the last few weeks and months, we have written extensively about mental health, and we see this week’s event as one of the most important nights since JOE.ie came online in 2010.
But we won’t be stopping there.
Last year, suicide and self harm crisis centre Pieta House saw 5,445 clients.
Of those, 1,271 were females between the ages of 18 to 35.
Fewer, 1,065 in fact, were men in the same age group. They were presenting with suicidal ideation or engaging in self-harm.
If those numbers are not alarming enough, think of the many, many thousands more who can not bring themselves to seek help, whether it’s for depression, anxiety, or any of the myriad mental health problems that are reported to affect 95% of the population at some point in their lives.
We can’t go quiet.
Last week, Fiona Kennedy wrote an excellent piece for The Irish Times, calling on the media to broaden its focus when posting stories about a range of mental health issues and disorders.
“One could be forgiven for believing that the only issues that affect people are depression and anxiety,” she writes.
“(And) that it’s only our younger population who are impacted, or that exercise will fix everything. While these are all valid points, they are merely the tip of the iceberg.”
We agree, and as long as you continue to send your stories to Editorial@JOE.ie or through Facebook, we will continue to review them and, in many cases, bring them to publication.
We don’t believe we can get through to everyone, but we do know that silence on the subject of mental health is not an option as long as stories like these, stories like Caoilte’s, continue to be told.
The new government needs to listen to the growing clamour for acceptable mental health services. If you have a story about yourself or a loved one that you believe will help others, please share it.
Meanwhile, we’ll keep going.
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