News from: media

May 1, 2009

Headline News Highlights 24th April -1st May 2009

NUI MAYNOOTH LAUNCHES STUDENT PHONE COUNSELLING

Kildare Times North (Wed, 22 April 2009)

Natasha Carroll, Vice-President of NUI Maynooth Student's Union (NUIMSU), recently launched a phone counselling service for students, entitled 'NiteLine'. It is a confidential, anonymous, non- judgemental, non- directive counselling service run by students for students. It operates outside of normal office hours and is also run by five other universities, Trinity, UCD, RCSI, NCAD and DCU.  

Deputy Neville calls for 'mental health' training for banking staff

Limerick Independent (29-Apr-2009)

Dan Neville, has called for mental health awareness training for banking and debt collection staff because of his "growing concern" that people who use the mentioned sectors may be at risk because of a possible link between debt and mental health associated with the current economic recession.  

'No help' for depressed pregnant women

Irish Examiner (30-Apr-2009)

Almost 90% of pregnant women who reported psychological problems such as depression failed to be referred to a mental health service, a study has found. Figures revealed at the College of Psychiatry of Ireland's inaugural conference have shown that despite the need to pay close attention to the wellbeing of an expectant mother, 432 women who reported some form of psychological distress in 2006 were not referred to a specialist. 

Media irresponsible on mental health issues Irish Medical Times  (30/04/09) Mental health issues rarely get the attention they deserve, and when they do, the media often sends out irresponsible messages in the way they report mental health stories, according to Irish Times Social Affairs correspondent,  Carl O’Brien.  Carl O’Brien was speaking at the first scientific session of last week’s IMO conference, which focused on mental health.

Mental Health Service  

Mental wards release delays

Sunday Times (Sun, 26 April 2009)

Up to a dozen patients successfully treated in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) cannot be released due to the government's failure to fix flawed legislation. The Department of Justice said it was "urgently" addressing the problem highlighted by The Sunday Times over a year ago.  

State risks being sued over out-of-hours social careI

rish Examiner (Mon, 27 April 2009)

Internal Department of Health correspondence seen by the Irish Examiner strongly advises that failure to provide such services carries major risks. Specifically, the correspondence warns that "Children and families in crisis will not have anywhere to turn to in emergencies." "Minister and Health Service Executive [HSE] will continue to be blamed when adverse events occur."  "Possible exposure to legal action where State fails in its duty to care for children.".  

Cuts could cost lives

Cavan Post, (28-Apr-2009)

The representative body for psychiatric nurses has said that lives could be put at risk after cuts were made to the mileage allowances of their members who carry out home visits for patients all over Cavan. The Psychiatric Nurses Association also believes that cutting the mileage of the home based teams in Cavan, which are community based teams of nurses who visit mental health patients in their own homes and carry out the necessary treatment, does not make economic sense.   

Suicide Prevention  

PIETA HOUSE TO BE ESTHBLISHED IN LIMERICK

Weekly Observer (Wed, 22 April 2009)

Pieta House, Ireland's very first community based centre for prevention of suicide and self harm, has been given the green light to set up in Limerick to cover Limerick city and county. This emerged at a meeting held at the South Court Hotel recently to discuss the issue.  

Mayor gets film screening cancelled

Galway City Tribune (Fri, 24 April 2009)

A disturbing  film that depicts the suicide of a schoolboy wearing a Galway school uniform has been withdrawn from screening at the Eye Cinema next month, following pressure from the Mayor of the City. The controversial production portrays a teenager taking his own life in the uniform of the school attended by one of the five young people who died by suicide in Galway earlier this year.

Euthanasia is growing issue here - FG
Irish Health (Tue, 28 April 2009)
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are growing issues that can no longer be swept under the carpet, according to Fine Gael mental health spokesperson, Dan Neville TD. Mr Neville warned that a ‘slippery slope’ might develop in the event of euthanasia becoming acceptable, after a survey by the Irish Association of Suicidology found that 48% of those questioned agreed that people with incurable illness should be allowed to commit suicide in a dignified manner.

Debtline to deal with suicide risk callers

Evening Herald (30-Apr-2009)

Workers from money advice service MABS and Social Welfare are being trained to deal with clients at risk of suicide during the recession. The employees, who deal with unemployed people who have growing money worries, are being taught to identify people who are having thoughts of suicide.   

Eating Disorders 

Eating disorders diagnosed in 5-13 year old..
Irish Health (Tue, 28 April 2009)

Children as young as five are being treated for eating disorders and in some cases experts are force-feeding children to save their lives, a new study has found. The three-year study identified more than 100 children aged five to 13 years with eating disorders; 61% had life-threatening complications of malnutrition.  

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