Orlagh Winters: When Is The Government Going To Act On Our Mental Health Crisis?

Posted by
John Ross

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Orlagh New 1YESTERDAY I read a tweet from a man who I hugely admire as he has spoken candidly about his battle with depression and written some heartbreaking pieces about his own mental health and suicidal thoughts.

Conor tweeted a frightening statistic, that in a 16 day period in Cork, 16 people died by suicide.

This is an alarming figure and it is something that cannot be ignored.  I just can’t get my head around the fact that there are 16 families who are left with a hole in their lives that will never be healed.

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There are 16 places at a table that will never be replaced. There are 16 graves where bodies are cold. There are 16 souls who lost all hope.

There are 16 communities who are grieving. These were 16 loved ones who felt that the only option that they had was to leave this earth.

Christ almighty when is going to stop?  When are our government ministers going to acknowledge that there is a crisis?

I am not taking from any other area but if, in a 16-day period there were 16 road deaths, there would be a national emergency declared. Why is it so bloody difficult to put a plan in place that will help those who are struggling right now?

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Comprehension is beyond me at this very moment. All I can think about is the poor families. I have lost friends to suicide and it is one of the worst feelings that anyone can encounter.

There are so many questions left unanswered, so many whys, so many what if’s, so many if onlys.

Charitable organisations like Pieta House do stellar work and deserve to be supported. Recently I heard founder Joan Freeman speak at a fundraiser held here in Tralee and the figures she gave are alarming.

There are literally hundreds of people taking their own lives and our elected representatives are ignoring it.

Education is key, teaching our younger generation the coping skills that they may need in dark days. But what about now?

I don’t have the answers but what I do know that cutting the budgets assigned to mental health cannot be a good thing.

Comedian Al Porter gave a very open and honest on The Cutting Edge last week and received a lot of media attention (and rightly so) for helping to break the stigma.

It shouldn’t take a chat show to get people talking, it should be a topic that is raised every week in The Dáil and there should be a contingency plan put in place immediately.

It is too late for so many Irish people who have taken their own lives but it is not too late for the thousands who right now are battling with The Black Dog.

Get the finger out Simon Harris and take ownership of the deplorable state of our mental health service. Break the cycle!

Until next time,

Be kind to each other!

Orlagh xx

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