Orlagh Winters: We Need To Look At Our Attitude To Mental Health

.

SO here we are after less than two weeks after Darkness Into Light and once again the issue of mental health is at the forefront of social media.

This time the singer Sinead O’Connor was subjected to the most vile, vitriolic and basically inhumane abuse at the hands of the ever growing keyboard warriors.

For those of you who don’t know, Sinead was reported missing in the United States when she had not returned from a bike ride. Thankfully since then she has been found safe. I won’t add well as it is clear to see that the unfortunate woman is tortured by mental illness.

Continued below…

.

There were the smartarses who commented that she would be found in seven hours and fifteen days, a reference to her hit song “Nothing Comares 2 U”.

Every single day in Ireland at least one person will take their own life due to mental illness. Think about that for a second.

This is a crisis. This is disturbing. This is life.

We were all up in arms when the picture taken in The Dail on the day that mental illness was discussed that there were very few of our elected politicians present to discuss this critical topic.

We cannot continue to blame the politicians, although they do have a huge part to play in granting funding to enable services that are needed to help those who require it.

Continued below…

.

We all have a part to play. We all need to have a look at our own attitude to mental well being.

Comments such as; “He is a bit touched” or “She is cracked that one” need to be banished from our vocabularly. When a cancer patient is diagnosed with that awful disease, we immediately have sympathy for them, why should it be any different for someone who is battling depression?

The message being driven home by ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ is that it is ok not to feel ok and it is definitely ok to ask for help.  We can preach this message until the cows come home, but we all as citizens have to take responsibility for our attitude to friends, family, work colleagues, celebrities and strangers who are cowering underneath the black cloud of depression.

Sinead O’Connor might not be everyone’s cup of tea and the fact that she is constantly in the spotlight seems to give some nasty individuals carte blánche to ridicule her.

Sure she posts about her illness and her struggles, but that does not make her a bad person. It certainly does not give anyone the right to insult her and make fun of her battle.

The ‘Black Dog’ will effect everyone in some way during their lifetime either personally, a family member or friend. Stop and think about how the tortured mind must be feeling. Stop and ask, what if it was you or someone you know?

Just stop! Show compassion, show kindness and most of all show you care!

Until next week,

“Nothing Compares 2 U”…

Orlagh xx