Connacht Tribune
New thinking on routes to recovery in mental health
Virginia Moyles and Maria Lawton-Murray have had first-hand experience of how Ireland’s public health service treats people with mental health problems. Both women have suffered issues around mental health and are now drawing on their experiences to drive change in what they describe as a “one-size-fits-all” approach to treatment.
Through the group, Cosáin, they are offering a more holistic approach to mental wellness, one which encourages people to live a good, meaningful life, supported by their peers.
“People go into illness in different ways and come out of it in different ways,” says Maria, who turned her life around after being on medication for 20 years. She was initially diagnosed with depression and later as being bi-polar. The pills treated the symptoms but left her feeling numbed.
‘Numbed’ is also the word that Virginia uses. Both women recognise that medication can have a role in helping people, but feel it shouldn’t be a long-term solution to mental health issues. In fact, they say, its side effects can often impede recovery.
The women are not advising people to abandon medication, and stress that any changes in treatment should occur under medical supervision. What they are saying is that there are different pathways to recovery, something that should be reflected in how people are treated.
Mental health is a complex issue and the long-held scientific belief that problems are caused by a chemical imbalance is being increasingly challenged, according to Virginia.
“People’s symptoms are often a natural response to a hurtful experience in their lives,” she says. “There’s a huge amount of evidence to show how it’s caused by trauma of some kind.”
And that doesn’t have to be a major trauma, the women explain, it could be something as simple as growing up without emotional support at home.
While medication has a place, Maria and Virginia felt that being on it long-term affected their quality of life.
“After 20 years, it didn’t work for me,” says Marie of her own experience. It wasn’t solving the underlying issues and she couldn’t recover until that happened.
“I had to go back and find the source and address it.”
Maria, who previously worked as a carpenter, is currently employed by the HSE on a pilot scheme as a mental health peer-support worker. She’s assisting people who have had mental health problems to return to the community.
“A lot of people haven’t learned how to emotionally self-regulate,” says Maria. Being on medication doesn’t allow you to learn how to do that, which is a problem because “you have to learn to work through the emotions”.
In her case, Maria had becomed so numbed from pills that she had to give up her passions of work and exercise. That’s when the sports fan who had been the first woman to referee National League soccer games in Ireland really decided to quit medicating.
“I had to get fit, lose weight and try to find like-minded people.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
