MentaliTY campaign launched at City Hall

"You never know what the person next to you is thinking, that's what we are trying to get at." They were the words of Pat Behan, the CEO of Suicide Aware at the launch of the MentaliTY Campaign at City Hall. More than 1,500 students are expected to take part in a series of workshops aimed at raising awareness of mental health, the first of its kind in Cork city.

The event was launched by Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Emmet O'Halloran and is being spearheaded by Mr O'Halloran, Suicide Aware and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. The city of Cork VEC is also supporting the venture through financial support along with media partners Red FM and the Cork Independent.

"Based on research we have done," said Ms Behan, "the number of young persons committing suicide has doubled. 23 per cent of those young men who die by suicide had been out with their friends beforehand. There are many factors which contribute to young men feeling they need to resort to this such as drink, girls and problems at home.

"Many of them have families who are in crisis because of the recession and they feel that things may be easier for their family if they took themselves out of the situation. The young male will not feel as comfortable talking to someone about his problems as a girl may and you never know what is going on in someone's head. Our findings were frightening"

Speaking at the launch Mr O'Halloran said: "When I came in to office I was asked to look at the area of mental health and MentaliTY is an effort to get a conversation going on in our city. We are reaching out to the youth starting with two days of seminars. Issues such as cyber-bullying, self-harm and taboo subjects like those will all be covered at the senimars.

"There will also be a Facebook page that the students can log on to and be updated on who they can speak to and where they can go with their problems. Mental health awareness is needed now more than ever. We are experiencing the highest rates of suicide since the recession hit and if a child can pick up the phone and be helped than MentaliTY will have been a success."

The city-wide mental health initiative is geared at Transition Year, Youth reach and community centre students and the workshops will be held over two days from 4-5 October. 

Frank Mulvihill, a guidance counsellor at Coláiste Chríost Rí as well as a committee member of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors said that on a day to day basis about 60 per cent of the work he does with students is personal counselling.

"We need to wake up to this. The cutbacks in education are staring us in the face but guidance counsellors are constantly working away in the background with students. We have to be very careful about this, it is a fickle time which is reflected in the students' problems. The two day seminar was filled overnight but mental health problems have increased by an incredible amount over the last ten years and we need to keep on top of that."