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MORE THAN ONE fifth of Irish people surveyed believe that people suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence, according to research carried out by a Dublin hospital.
Almost two thirds of respondents to the survey by St Patrick’s University Hospital said they would not easily accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend while 42 per cent of people said that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure.
The hospital released the figures to coincide with World Suicide Awareness Day in a bid to highlight the stigma around mental health which it says is stopping people from accessing the support they need.
Approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide every year according to figures from the World Health Organisation.
Paul Gilligan, the chief executive of the hospital, described the figures as “very worrying”.
“These figures highlight the critical requirement to reduce stigma and barriers to accessing mental healthcare. It’s also essential that those looking for help are provided with adequate high quality services that they can trust in,” said Gilligan.
40 per cent of respondents said that a member of their immediate family had been treated for mental health problems, while just over half said they had worked with someone who had been treated for emotional or mental health problems. Almost two thirds said that a close friend had been treated.
The survey was carried out among 300 people across the country.
Speaking on RTE Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Paul Gilligan said that the figures were consistent with international findings and with other national research. He said:
We have deeply ingrained negative views about mental health in Ireland, some of which date back to how we used to deal with mental health in the past, and I think we really have to tackle them on a number of levels.
A total of 525 people took their own lives in Ireland in 2011, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year.
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Totally true, being an Olympian is what we all dreamed of when we were young.
For the next fortnight those who have been selected to represent Ireland are fulfilling that dream, some maybe for several times beforehand.
Congratulations and best wishes to them all, and here’s hoping that they all exceed their expectations.
@Garry Coll: most young lads dream of snorting cocaine off hookers
What a load of bollix( sorry only stirring) It was fab.Best of luck to all our athletes.
@Willie Marty: LOL… Love it!
@Regular John: Merci.. !!
Pure dedication and sacrifice. Bring it on home, Snoop.
Give the whole lot of them a yard of ash, and let them Hurl. All that public money going to Foreign soil and Foreign games should be stopped, immediately !!
@Sean O’Callaghan: meanwhile, the GAA rob the poor to pay the rich. Nice!!
@Paul Gorry: You’re some eejit taking the bait to the most obvious troll.
Panen et circenses!
The opening ceremony seemed horrible to me… In fact, I think France today is just a garbage dump and the Olympic Games have become a kind of Eurovision Song Contest…
@TheLost Traveller: Why did you watch it then ?
You obviously know nothing about France. If the comments section on the journal is anything to go by regarding Ireland ; I’m living in paradise over here !!!
Clown
@offside again: A good question….I watched the opening, I don’t follow the competitions anymore….As for France, I just came back from a business trip, for a week, in Marseille….It’s a disaster. Thanks to my job, I know France very well, from before the 90s. Napoleon is probably rolling in his grave watching what is happening now in his country,from all points of view. Have a nice day.
@TheLost Traveller: You are indeed a lost traveller ! Marseille/Paris/Nantes/Lyon/Lille etc are not France. I don’t think you know it as much as you believe you do.
No more than Dublin is Ireland.
As for Napoléon ; the French do admire him, but they have moved on from that time.
I don’t believe you
@TheLost Traveller: france is better than ireland in every meaningful metric. Healthcare, education, cost of living, public transport infrastructure.
I can’t wait for the track races, especially 100 metres sprint which is the pinnacle!
@Sean Money: yes and the 1500 metres which used to be referred to as the blue riband although the 100 probably just shades it as it gives us the fastest man/woman in the world..
@James Leahy: Fastest over 100m! Then there is the fastest over 200/400/800/1500m .. etc !!! But I know what you mean !
@offside again: good point although the names roll off the top of the tounge Florence joiner smith Carl Lewis Usain Bolt.
@James Leahy: bit cotraversial but it was the blue riband event until it started to be dominated by African countries .. post Coe/Ovett/Kramm/Coughlin the 100 took over more and more … Lewis/Christie eh hem Johnson etc
@Pad: interesting take on things. ‘burst of energy’ Indeed !!!
@offside again: I’m a cycling fan so I prefer the tactical positioning over a distance and sprint at the end !
Great show from Gojira Sinéad! Hon Ireland!
@G: Because the man with the task of delivering the Paris 2024 Olympic Games’ opening ceremony said he wants everyone to feel represented. He also wanted to ensure his celebrations showed that there ‘is room for everyone in Paris’. The opening ceremony would only be a success in his view ‘if everyone feels represented in it’. He was bullied growing up (a harsher type of bullying than you would do or are doing here), so it was important to him (and should be to all and to what the Games represent). Least of all, one only has to know something of beliefs, practices etc. in Ancient Greece to see how all of this might bear some relevance.
@Jack Hayes:
Excellent comment ! The French did well,
considering the circumstances. Now let the games commence !
@Jack Hayes: it’s almost refreshing to see how somebody can squeeze so much rubbish into a reply. Referencing ancient Greek practices. Making out I am a bully by asking a question(which is now deleted thanks to the journal).
Tell me, how does a male with one ball hanging out mere metres from a teenage girl represent inclusion? Or am I hand picking to suit my own query? Like you have clearly done.
@ Sean O’Callaghan: You keep being a bigoted GAA-Head. Your vile sectarian attitude and the same mindset shared by many of those invoiled in the GAA, from supporters to those who play and run the game is a disease in modern day Ireland.
You personify everything that is wrong with the GAA.
Thank you for highlighting this in public for all to see.
have your say