People with mental illness were ‘abandoned’ in pandemic

A mental health campaigner who is on a waiting list for nine months for a primary care psychology appointment has appealed to Government to invest in the ‘poor relation’ of the health services.

Mary McCarthy, a mother of four from Williamstown, said people with mental illness were abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“People with mental health problems, be it anxiety right up to serious schizophrenia, are the most vulnerable people in society but it feels like we’ve been forgotten and abandoned.

“Through the whole pandemic, what has the Government done? Nothing was put in place and yet people are crying out for help. They have just forgotten about us,” Mary told the Connacht Tribune.

She first became involved with psychiatric services in 2005, when a traumatic event from 1990 came to the forefront and she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression.

Since then, she “made numerous attempts at suicide and self-harming,” she said, and has had first-hand experience of the psychiatric services in Roscommon and Emergency Department in Ballinasloe.

In 2018, the 56-year-old was devastated when she separated from her husband.

She contacted local mental health services to seek support, but no appointments were available.

After waiting weeks to be seen, she eventually took an overdose.

“I feel let down,” said Mary, who added she was lucky to good family, friend support and a decent employer.

The pandemic presented its own challenges. In January, Mary suffered a mental health crisis and sought treatment from Portiuncula Hospital. Despite her distress, she had no choice but to wait in an Emergency Department for over five hours.

Due to Covid-19 health restrictions, she was kept in isolation overnight in a psychiatric ward in Roscommon, but released the following day.

For the past nine months, Mary has been on a waiting list for a primary care psychology appointment; she is tired of waiting.

“I’m waiting and waiting and waiting. What can I do but just hope for the best? I think the Government has so much to answer for,” she said.

Mary said that making psychiatric patients go through Emergency Departments was wrong; a lack of beds was another problem.

“They closed the psychiatric unit in Ballinasloe; it was done up at a cost of €2.8 million and nobody ever went through the doors as a psychiatric patient. It doesn’t make sense when people are crying out for beds,” she said.

Mary praised the new Community Mental Health Café that operates from Mr Waffle opposite University Hospital Galway after hours, but she said there should be more rolled-out in towns and villages.

She is now campaigning with Mental Health Reform, a national coalition, which is calling on the Government to invest €85 million in Ireland’s mental health services in Budget 2022.

The group, which represents 77 organisations in the community and voluntary sector, has submitted an extensive ‘shopping list’ of areas to prioritise.

It includes recruitment of primary care psychologists and assistant psychologists to reduce waiting times and divert referrals from specialist services. It also includes investing €15 million in the community and voluntary sector to support the delivery of mental health services including counselling and psychotherapy; investing €6.5 million for the expansion of the CAMHS Connect (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) model to improve out-of-hours crisis intervention mental health services for children and young people; and €2 million for national advocacy services for children and adults with mental health difficulties in hospital, prison, residences and in the community.

CEO of Mental Health Reform, Fiona Coyle, said: “Covid-19 has adversely affected the physical and mental wellbeing of many people in Ireland. Thousands more people have come forward to access support during this difficult period. Evidence is emerging of a shadow pandemic, where the burden of trauma will have a profound impact on mental health and primary care services for many years.

“This needs a clear and comprehensive response from the Government, including a step-change in funding levels. Now is the time to resource, rebuild and reform our mental health services; we cannot go back to a broken system.”

Mary agreed: “I want Government and all elected representatives to just think would they want the mental health services to be there for one of their family members? They need to get behind the people and invest money in the services. It’s pointless if the Government doesn’t listen.”