News from: media

December 4, 2009

Headline News Highlights (27th November - 4th December 2009)

Mental Health

Non-payment of grants forcing students to drop out, says USI
Irish Times (Thu, 3 Dec 2009)
Up to 50 students a week are being forced to drop out of third-level institutions because they have yet to receive their first-term grant, the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) has said.Addressing an Oireachtas education committee yesterday, USI education officer Hugh O’Sullivan said the higher education grant system was in “meltdown” and students’ health and mental wellbeing was suffering.

New web resource to benefit teenagers
Northside People East (Wed, 2 Dec 2009)
A NEW web resource for teenagers has been launched. Teenhelp deals with the multitude of issues facing teenagers today and offers information to support them in addressing the sometimes complicated feelings and situations they face in life. Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, launched the resource, along with a series of booklets for the parents of teenagers.

Young don't have access to trusted adults — study
Irish Medical Times (Wed, 2 Dec 2009)
Early findings from a massive national study on the mental health of young people show that 20 per cent feel they have nobody to talk to about their problems.

Avondale CC win place in Public Speaking County Final
Wicklow Times North Edition (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
Avondale CC win place in Public Speaking County Final Avondale CC win place in Public Speaking County Final The third round of the Wicklow County Public Speaking Project which forms part of the national competition organised by Mental Health Ireland took place on Wednesday, November 25th 2009 in the Grand Hotel, Wicklow.

Cure by culture therapy
Irish Times (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
Swedish doctors will soon be able to prescribe singing lessons, pottery classes or art appreciation as part of a new public healthcare initiative

Mental Illness

'Skunk' psychosis warning
Irish Daily STAR (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
POWERFUL 'skunkweed' cannabis is nearly seven times more likely to trigger psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than traditional hash, it was claimed yesterday. Skunk is form of herbal cannabis that contains high levels of the psychoactive ingredient delta-9 tetrahydroeannabinol (THC). Previous research has shown pure THC can induce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoid delusions.

Elderly urged to be aware of the signs of depression
Irish Times (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
Depression is not an inevitable part of ageing, but older people and their friends and families are being urged to be aware of the signs, particularly in winter when isolation can become more of an issue.

A sporting chance with depression
Irish Times (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
MEDICAL MATTERS: Professional athletes are no different from the rest of us when it comes to mental illness

Suicide Prevention

Suicide warning over repossessions
Irish Examiner (Fri, 4 Dec 2009)
HOME repossessions are leading to suicidal tendencies among struggling mortgage holders and the break-up of couples' relationships, an Oireachtas Committee has been told. The warning comes amid calls by a former minister for a major subprime lender operating in Ireland to be put out of business. A group opposed to home repossessions yesterday voiced concern about recession-hit mortgage holders. 

Huge rise in train suicides
Irish Daily Star (Tue, 1 Dec 2009)
Train suicides in Germany have doubled since tragic national soccer goalkeeper Robert Enke threw himself under a locomotive earlier this month, say railway bosses. Rail passenger organisation Pro Bahn chairman Karl Peter Naumann said: "I understand there are now on average six suicides on the tracks every day instead of three.

Two-thirds of people referred to self-harm service are in life crisis
Irish Examiner (Mon, 30 Nov 2009)
Two-thirds of people referred by their GP to a new service to help people with suicidal tendencies before they harm themselves had become overwhelmed by a severe life crisis, it has emerged.

Candlelit service for lives lost to suicide
Irish Examiner (Mon, 30 Nov 2009)
Lives lost through suicide were remembered by around 1,500 people who attended a special candlelit service in Maynooth, Co Kildare, yesterday. The Christmas Celebration of Light was organised by Console, a national charity that provides professional counselling and support to those bereaved by suicide as well as those at risk of suicide.

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