It’s been just over a year since I returned to the shores of the emerald isle after three years living and working abroad. A card-carrying member of generation emigration, I held all of the longings for home that so many of us strewn across the globe carry – the company of friends and family, a fluffy spud topped with a curl of Kerrygold, a heaping 99 with a crumbly flake, and a glorious glass of ice cold, pitch black Guinness – pulled by a pro.
The persistent ache in the pit of my stomach for home, coupled with the fact that my visa options were quickly and definitively running out brought me back to Ireland. The sadness that I felt at leaving my life in Boston behind was matched only by my excitement to return home to a country for which I had a new found appreciation. I was ecstatic to be coming back to the one place where the grass truly is greener. A year has passed and I’m sorry to say – the rose tinted glasses are unequivocally off.
I won’t bore you with the details of my life in Boston, other than to tell you that I spent my time there working in politics. My daily routine consisted of reading, researching and drafting policy, listening to debates and meeting with advocates. I was well and truly immersed in it all and I loved it. The aspect of my work however that I was less fond of was the constant compromise required to get anything done in the world of politics. Worst of all – even with said compromises made and negotiated, the frequency with which good and much needed policy would end up in a binder, on a shelf, placed on hold for a more politically convenient time we all knew might never come, was a reality I could never resign myself to accept. Unfortunately, it is a reality that translates all too well to the system here at home, perhaps most frustratingly to the detriment of mental health policy reform in Ireland.
I, like most people, have had my own struggles with mental health and emotional wellbeing. The fact that it is difficult for me to write here that I have suffered from depression and anxiety is a testament to the Ireland I grew up in – one of stagnant stigma, where depression was referred to as ‘taking to the bed’ and mental health services struck the fear of god into you, rather than offering any semblance of solace. While we have undeniably made significant steps in tackling the social stigma attached to mental health, progress in mental health policy, policy implementation and service provision lag disgracefully behind.
‘A Vision for Change’, a progressive strategy created over 10 year ago opens with the following statement:
‘Each citizen should have access to local, specialised and comprehensive mental health service provision that is of the highest standard.’
I find it difficult to imagine that anyone could read that and disagree with the sentiment. Despite this, countless local and national political representatives read those very words and the comprehensive report and recommendations that followed and placed ‘A Vision for Change’ back on a shelf or shoved it into a drawer. It seems as though repression is a trait that has jumped from Irish culture to Irish policy.
We hear politicians discuss their understanding of the need for better services on every platform they can hoist themselves up on. They commission reports, hold committee hearings, listen to testimony of tragedies within their constituencies that underline the need for progress. They nod, and agree, and extol passionately the movements pushing for change. I’m sure many of these politicians do of course feel genuinely passionate about the issues also and too crave change as ultimately this affects every family throughout Ireland on one level or another. And yet here we are in 2017 with waiting lists that can only be described as dangerously long, prohibitive costs for the most vulnerable in our society, and limited and restrictive services that are neither designed nor equipped to deal with the complex and urgent nature of mental health care.
Some politicians and policy makers will hide behind legislative agendas or budget restraints, some referencing pressing economic and financial issues that must take priority. It is now also understandably difficult to recruit staff to enter into a broken system that fails so many, having to bear witness to inhumane waiting lists to get the support needed. What many fail to see is the connection between these political challenges and the mental health of Ireland’s citizenry. Economic pressures such as low wages, high rents, and unemployment are all linked to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Rising homelessness and substance abuse are more closely related to mental health than they ever will be to economics or criminality. The existence of these challenges makes mental health more, not less relevant. If those in power refuse to see this correlation then it is up to us to show them.
It is evident now more than ever that it is up to us to act as the catalyst for change. We saw the power the public wields with the Marriage Equality Referendum. When you galvanise and organise passion there is little the political elite can do to stop it. We have tried it the politician’s way. We have provided testimony, statistics and research. We have waited patiently for them to implement the policies they acknowledge are so needed. I think for most of us that patience has run out. It’s time to try things our way.
There are few things more powerful than a collective of engaged and passionate citizens, unrelenting in their pursuit of change. If every Irish person who has needed help that simply was not there, or has watched a loved one suffer needlessly marched on Dáil Éireann we would fill the streets of Dublin. If we each sent a letter or made a phone call to our local TD we would flood their offices. We would be a collective voice that could not be ignored. We need to focus on becoming a committed and concerted citizenry fighting for the mental health services we so badly need and deserve.
Change is not something that simply occurs; it is something that is created – and we are the agents of change.
Keep an eye out on A Lust for Life over the coming weeks for more to come on how we can collectively organise ourselves to best effect social change in our mental health system.
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