World Mental Health Day event in Stormont

A local MLA is sponsoring an event in Stormont to mark World Mental Health Day.

World Mental Health Day is today (Tuesday) and the New Script for Mental Health event, sponsored by Mark H Durkan MLA was held in Room 115, Parliament Buildings, from 11.00am to 12.30pm.

The findings of a community consultation aimed at fostering crucial dialogue around mental health, was launched at the event. 

The consultation, undertaken by Participation and Practice of Rights, hopes to ignite discussions about mental health and collectively construct a new narrative, especially as the number of suicides in the North continues to rise. 

Participation and Practice of Rights is a human rights network mobilising for "change that matters".

The New Script for Mental Health campaign is titled: ‘Choice, Connection and Community’ and seeks to explore innovative approaches to mental health.

More than 100 individuals actively participated in face to face and online workshops during the consultation process. The diverse group included individuals with lived experience, service users, family members, staff in mental health services and asylum seekers, all sharing their vision for a transformative approach to mental health.

Key themes emerging from the findings advocate for a reform of mental health services, providing individuals with a broader spectrum of options, promoting both individual and collective empowerment, and addressing underlying causes of emotional pain and distress.

Among the recommendations, there was a strong emphasis on prioritising talking therapies as the foundation of a mental health framework, with those who participated in the consultation also calling for early intervention, immediate access to counselling, and help for children and young people to be delivered in a timely manner.

Calls were also made for referrals that involve person to person contact, moving beyond letters or phone calls.

Additional funding for community and voluntary sector and providing peer support in local communities is deemed crucial.

Access to creativity, arts and community based initiatives would enable local people to support each other.

The proposals include the establishment of community networks, alternatives to emergency rooms for addressing emotional distress and rehabilitation services, and offering people the opportunity to experience ‘good’ mental health instead of fighting ‘bad’ mental health.

Those who participated in the consultation also suggested that allowing asylum seekers to work would be beneficial to their mental health and provide the ability to access services to live with dignity.

Mary Gould, a midwife from Ballymena, who tragically lost her son Conall at the age of 21, is dedicated to advocating for a new approach to mental health services.

Speaking at the event, Mary said: “My son’s life was cut short due to the inadequacies of our mental health services.” 

West Belfast single parent Deirdre McCausland is a survivor of domestic violence.

She said: “I’m stressed living in poverty and the punitive social security system creates added stress and trauma. I have to fight for appropriate and timely mental health services for both myself and my son.”

Kirston Scott from Ballyclare lost her 18 year old son William to an accidental drug related death.

She said: “Ten years ago when I lost William I was failed by mental health services and the education system. I am campaigning for changes in mental health services so no other mother has to endure what I have. I am saddened people are still going through this; it hasn’t changed, just gotten worse.”

Sara Boyce, Organiser with New Script for Mental Health said: "From the UN and the WHO at the global level, to people in local communities everywhere, there is a growing movement to move beyond the now outdated medicalised model of mental health and to stop focusing on chemical imbalances and start focusing on power imbalances. 

"The results of New Script’s community consultation show that both people using mental health services, and those working in these services, together have solutions to the current crisis, solutions that put connection and choice at the centre. We look forward to MLAs getting involved in this conversation and helping create a #newscript for mental health."

For more information on New Script for Mental Health campaign, visit: www.nlb.ie/campaigns/mental-health.

Follow the conversation on social media at:

https://www.facebook.com/pprproject, https://www.instagram.com/nooneleftbehind_ppr, https://twitter.com/PPR_Org