Mental health services for the country’s youth are hugely under-resourced, writes Niall Breslin, but pre-election time is a real opportunity to drive change.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to address the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children regarding potential ways to explore our mental health strategies for the future of the youth in this country.
Our child and adolescent mental health services are chronically under-resourced and it’s quite often the case that families dealing with a loved one in mental health distress have to travel hundreds of miles, and wait many months, to receive support that often requires immediate sensitive and acute attention.
The frontline staff are doing absolutely everything they can, but unfortunately, they are not receiving the adequate and sustainable resources from the Government to provide the services that our youth currently require. This is not just unacceptable, it’s incredibly dangerous – and no doubt, resulting in much pain and suffering for many families, who at times, feel utterly helpless to help their loved one.
Although complex, if we have the political will to revolutionise this, not just our services but our comprehension and societal attitudes towards mental health, we will. It requires strategy, leadership, the joining of dots of all agencies involved and the empowerment of the already great institutions, organisations and individual and collective brains that exist in this country. But first, those in power must park the egos and admit that a change is absolutely required.
The mere fact that under 10pc of our health budget is allocated to mental health is an indication of the level of priority it receives at the macro level. You simply have to do the maths here: mental health issues are costing the State 11bn a year (not including healthcare professionals), yet we spend a tiny fraction of that on services, and an even smaller fraction on preventative measures and education.
We hear the constant referral to “ring-fenced budgets” by politicians trying to justify the vague and aimless short-term, quick-fix strategies currently floating around. This isn’t a headhunt, nor a blame game, but a reality.
I do not think any government, past or present, has recognised the importance of developing a humanistic and sustainable mental health strategy, nor the potential influence that this could have on the overall health of the nation.
Now as the conversation grows, so must the policies and strategies to help those willing to seek help. Over the next few weeks, many politicians will arrive at your door canvassing for your votes. If you, like me, want to see real change, you have a responsibility to engage meaningfully and honestly with these women and men, so that they realise the importance of this subject.
Don’t let them fob you off with tokenistic retorts that have been filtered down through their party PR departments. Grill them.
Now is the time to rally the troops and drive real change so that families with vulnerable children and loved ones can get the full support they require, and we can recognise the importance of education and community-led initiatives in building a more resilient and holistically healthier country.
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