Friday, February 16, 2007

WHEN WILL OUR GOVERNMENT 'RETHINK' MENTAL HEALTH - YFG

Young Fine Gael (YFG) have today called on the Government to implement a proactive nationwide campaign modelled on the Northern Ireland 'Rethink' campaign addressing the stigma and taboo relating to mental illness, depression and suicide.

"Rethink, which is mainly Government funded, uses a TV advertisement with a high profile celebrity from Coronation Street ('Steve McDonald' / Simon Gregson) to show that mental health is an illness like any other and should not be stigmatised", according to YFG President, Elizabeth Munnelly.

"A high profile campaign here will encourage young people to seek help and advice. One in four Irish people will suffer some form of mental illness during their lifetime. Suicide accounts for 3 out of every 10 deaths in the 15-24 age group and is the most common cause of death in young males. In 2004 11,200 presented at A&E having deliberately self-harmed.

"Every 45 minutes another Irish person attempts suicide. Our Government needs to wake up and realise that young people's issues are not trivial but serious and need to be tackled urgently," said Munnelly.

Video Here


Its is an excellent campaign.

Posters and pictures of the campaign:





5 comments:

  1. Greetings. This is the first time I've logged on to your blog. I came across it via Cork.ie.

    I'm grateful to you for highlighting this campaign which I didn't know about. I don't even know the actor who is central to it.

    But I want to keep in touch with the debate about how we should provide for people with 'mental illness'. I wonder why you have written about this? If it's a personal interest, I'm glad to know it because I've experienced severe anxiety-depression and struggled to write my way.

    Thanks again.

    I'll add your blog to blogs on my blog in the hope we'll discover more in common.

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  2. hey! thanks for the comment. I've regularly posted on mental health issues in Ireland due to my own difficulties and the fact I lost my job over it. Check out the mental health label for more posts on mental health issues http://stephenspillane.blogspot.com/search/label/Mental%20Health On a related note, have you checked out the basement resource centre on south terrace?

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  3. Sorry it's taken me a while to get back here. I wish I knew how to keep track of comments.

    I'll read all the stuff you've written on mental health in ireland.

    Yes, I know the Basement resource centre: I've been to a couple of meetings and a creative writing workshop there. I think it has great potential and I wish I'd known about it while I was 'in depression'. I might have gone there. It would have been a lot better than sitting at home in front of the tele.

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  4. then yopu should know me!!! Im always in here, in fact im here now!!!

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  5. Rethink pays tribute to the mental health alliance for campaigning for so long to get a better.he went on to point out that less than forty per cent of employers are willing to hire someone with a mental heath condition.mental distress is a fact of life.it can affect any of us at any time.
    ================================
    berika
    Dual Diagnosis
    Dual Diagnosis

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Thank you
Stephen