busy week in mental health in Waterford
mental health matters
this last week has been a busy one in Waterford mental health scene
the first story which hit the headlines was the lack of help for young people in waterford with joan freeman of pietahouse saying that since opening up in waterford they have been inundated with help requests from young people and there pare
COLLETTE DALGARNO
Southern Advocate at National Service Users Executive
I recently found out that their is to be a cut in resources for Waterford University Hospital.
while many like myself see this as an inevitable outcome of budget cuts it is a cut which i feel will have very wide ramifications on our children's futures.
to clarify my point i will tell you a brief story
a young girl name Jane recently ended up being admitted to hospital. this was not the result of Jane not taking her meds or not following advice of her doctor.
In fact Jane was taking her meds and attending all of her appointments. until her adolescent psychiatrist was cut and she was left a drift.
Jane was 16 years old and was admitted to an adult ward for her time in hospital.
i was 26 when i was first hospitalized i had very little knowledge of mental health services and no one explained anything to me while on the ward. i was in with people with mixed issues one of whom was extremely verbally violent to staff, young men who were constantly pestering me for dates and being violent towards each other.
As a colleague pointed out the selling of alcohol or cigarette to people Janes age is prohibited as it should be, however we expect young adults like Jane to be able to deal with a range of extreme disorders including the behavior of older clients with extreme ill health and to be trusted into a system which is not fit for adults, never mind young adults like.
while coming to my course i listened to a news programme about how we need to bring back our graduates in order to secure further investment and while i think this is a noble thought it brings me back to the declaration of independence and the following words in particular
" cherishing all the children of the nation equally,"
this is yet another case of where some children and their futures are cherished more equally by our government than others.
what slightly ironic is that by cutting resources the government is not only condemning young adults like Jane to the vicious circle most adult mental health service users face of lack of support, continued hosptilisation and long term disability and unemployment.
they are ignoring the fact that it costs a hell of lot more to keep people dependent on the government and human resources than it does to create opportunities for recovery and wellness which lead to employment.
through out history it has been proven that some of the greatest mind of each generation have suffered mental health issues. so think about this who are we condemning to this viscious cycle the next winston churchill, marie curie or Robin Williams
the second major event was the trial of paul cuddihy
in regards to this my thoughts are very simple and i believe this directly relates to the first issue
in my mind pauls family had been begging for the hse to help their brother since he was a young man
it was only a few years ago that the hse finally acknowledged the need for specialist in pauls case
in fact for its quite simple if paul had been a person with diabetes or with who refused to take his meds while under hospital care and killed some one by passing out and crashing.
we would be asking why the nurses had not checked he was taking his meds and also bare in mind that while with diabetes and heart condition are more likely to occur quite quickly mental illness is something which takes place over weeks so why did no one notice that mr cuddihy was getting sicker and more importantly why is the blame being hung on a man who had a history of severe mental illness and not his so called carers
the last event was slightly more positive when i attended the positive mental health talk hosted by the women network in waterford
all the speakers were great but i have to say the two martins martin hourigan from samaratins and martin mathews from shine along with caroline from grow really stood out
Our Childrens Lives Matter
I recently found out that their is to be a cut in resources for Waterford University Hospital.
while many like myself see this as an inevitable outcome of budget cuts it is a cut which i feel will have very wide ramifications on our children's futures.
to clarify my point i will tell you a brief story
a young girl name Jane recently ended up being admitted to hospital. this was not the result of Jane not taking her meds or not following advice of her doctor.
In fact Jane was taking her meds and attending all of her appointments. until her adolescent psychiatrist was cut and she was left a drift.
Jane was 16 years old and was admitted to an adult ward for her time in hospital.
i was 26 when i was first hospitalized i had very little knowledge of mental health services and no one explained anything to me while on the ward. i was in with people with mixed issues one of whom was extremely verbally violent to staff, young men who were constantly pestering me for dates and being violent towards each other.
As a colleague pointed out the selling of alcohol or cigarette to people Janes age is prohibited as it should be, however we expect young adults like Jane to be able to deal with a range of extreme disorders including the behavior of older clients with extreme ill health and to be trusted into a system which is not fit for adults, never mind young adults like.
while coming to my course i listened to a news programme about how we need to bring back our graduates in order to secure further investment and while i think this is a noble thought it brings me back to the declaration of independence and the following words in particular
" cherishing all the children of the nation equally,"
this is yet another case of where some children and their futures are cherished more equally by our government than others.
what slightly ironic is that by cutting resources the government is not only condemning young adults like Jane to the vicious circle most adult mental health service users face of lack of support, continued hosptilisation and long term disability and unemployment.
they are ignoring the fact that it costs a hell of lot more to keep people dependent on the government and human resources than it does to create opportunities for recovery and wellness which lead to employment.
through out history it has been proven that some of the greatest mind of each generation have suffered mental health issues. so think about this who are we condemning to this viscious cycle the next winston churchill, marie curie or Robin Williams
mental health matters
this last week has been a busy one in Waterford mental health scene
the first story which hit the headlines was the lack of help for young people in waterford with joan freeman of pietahouse saying that since opening up in waterford they have been inundated with help requests from young people and there parents.
i refer to my recent linked post on this issue
Our Childrens Lives Matter
Published on November 15, 201
COLLETTE DALGARNO
Southern Advocate at National Service Users Executive
I recently found out that their is to be a cut in resources for Waterford University Hospital.
while many like myself see this as an inevitable outcome of budget cuts it is a cut which i feel will have very wide ramifications on our children's futures.
to clarify my point i will tell you a brief story
a young girl name Jane recently ended up being admitted to hospital. this was not the result of Jane not taking her meds or not following advice of her doctor.
In fact Jane was taking her meds and attending all of her appointments. until her adolescent psychiatrist was cut and she was left a drift.
Jane was 16 years old and was admitted to an adult ward for her time in hospital.
i was 26 when i was first hospitalized i had very little knowledge of mental health services and no one explained anything to me while on the ward. i was in with people with mixed issues one of whom was extremely verbally violent to staff, young men who were constantly pestering me for dates and being violent towards each other.
As a colleague pointed out the selling of alcohol or cigarette to people Janes age is prohibited as it should be, however we expect young adults like Jane to be able to deal with a range of extreme disorders including the behavior of older clients with extreme ill health and to be trusted into a system which is not fit for adults, never mind young adults like.
while coming to my course i listened to a news programme about how we need to bring back our graduates in order to secure further investment and while i think this is a noble thought it brings me back to the declaration of independence and the following words in particular
" cherishing all the children of the nation equally,"
this is yet another case of where some children and their futures are cherished more equally by our government than others.
what slightly ironic is that by cutting resources the government is not only condemning young adults like Jane to the vicious circle most adult mental health service users face of lack of support, continued hosptilisation and long term disability and unemployment.
they are ignoring the fact that it costs a hell of lot more to keep people dependent on the government and human resources than it does to create opportunities for recovery and wellness which lead to employment.
through out history it has been proven that some of the greatest mind of each generation have suffered mental health issues. so think about this who are we condemning to this viscious cycle the next winston churchill, marie curie or Robin Williams
the second major event was the trial of paul cuddihy
in regards to this my thoughts are very simple and i believe this directly relates to the first issue
in my mind pauls family had been begging for the hse to help their brother since he was a young man
it was only a few years ago that the hse finally acknowledged the need for specialist in pauls case
in fact for its quite simple if paul had been a person with diabetes or with who refused to take his meds while under hospital care and killed some one by passing out and crashing.
we would be asking why the nurses had not checked he was taking his meds and also bare in mind that while with diabetes and heart condition are more likely to occur quite quickly mental illness is something which takes place over weeks so why did no one notice that mr cuddihy was getting sicker and more importantly why is the blame being hung on a man who had a history of severe mental illness and not his so called carers
the last event was slightly more positive when i attended the positive mental health talk hosted by the women network in waterford
all the speakers were great but i have to say the two martins martin hourigan from samaratins and martin mathews from shine along with caroline from grow really stood out
the second major event was the trial of paul cuddihy
in regards to this my thoughts are very simple and i believe this directly relates to the first issue
in my mind pauls family had been begging for the hse to help their brother since he was a young man
it was only a few years ago that the hse finally acknowledged the need for specialist in pauls case
in fact for its quite simple if paul had been a person with diabetes or with who refused to take his meds while under hospital care and killed some one by passing out and crashing.
we would be asking why the nurses had not checked he was taking his meds and also bare in mind that while with diabetes and heart condition are more likely to occur quite quickly mental illness is something which takes place over weeks so why did no one notice that mr cuddihy was getting sicker and more importantly why is the blame being hung on a man who had a history of severe mental illness and not his so called carers
the last event was slightly more positive when i attended the positive mental health talk hosted by the women network in waterford
all the speakers were great but i have to say the two martins martin hourigan from samaratins and martin mathews from shine along with caroline from grow really stood out