World Mental Health Day: New Script for Mental Health meet MLAs to call for a better approach to mental health in Northern Ireland

Mary Gould, a midwife from Ballymena, who lost her son Conall, was speaking at an event on World Mental Health Day, organised by New Script for Mental Health, a grassroots initiative looking at a better approach to mental health.

She said: “My son’s life was cut short due to the inadequacies of our mental health services.”​

The findings of a community consultation were unveiled to MLAs to “foster crucial dialogue around mental health”. The consultation aimed to ignite discussions about mental health and collectively construct a new narrative, especially as the number of suicides in Northern Ireland continue to rise.

The New Script for Mental Health campaign entitled ‘Choice, Connection and Community’ seeks to explore innovative approaches to mental health and more than 100 individuals actively participated in face-to-face and online workshops during the consultation process. The diverse group included individuals with lived experience, service users, family members, staff in mental health services and asylum seekers, all sharing their vision for a transformative approach to mental health.

West Belfast single parent Deirdre McCausland is a survivor of domestic violence. She said: "I’m stressed living in poverty and the punitive social security system creates added stress and trauma. I have to fight for appropriate and timely mental health services for both myself and my son.”

Kirston Scott from Ballyclare lost her 18 year old son William to an accidental drug-related death.

She said: “Ten years ago when I lost William I was failed by mental health services and the education system. I am saddened that people are still going through this, that it hasn’t changed but in fact has gotten worse. I am campaigning for changes in mental health services so no other mother has to endure what I have."

Key themes emerging from the findings advocate for a reform of mental health services, providing individuals with a broader spectrum of options, promoting both individual and collective empowerment, and addressing underlying causes of emotional pain and distress.

Among the recommendations, there is a strong emphasis on prioritising talking therapies as the foundation of a mental health framework, with those who participated in the consultation also calling for early intervention, immediate access to counselling, and help for children and young people to be delivered in a timely manner.

They also recommended referrals that involve person-to-person contact, moving beyond letters or phone calls. Additional funding for community and voluntary sector and providing peer support in local communities is deemed crucial. Access to creativity, arts and community based initiatives would enable local people to support each other.

The proposals include the establishment of community networks, alternatives to emergency rooms for addressing emotional distress and rehabilitation services. Offering people the opportunity to experience ‘good’ mental health instead of fighting ‘bad’ mental health.

Those who participated in the consultation also suggest that allowing asylum seekers to work would be beneficial to their mental health and provide the ability to access services to live with dignity.

Sara Boyce of Participation and Practice of Rights, said: "From the UN and the WHO at the global level, to people in local communities everywhere, there is a growing movement to move beyond the now outdated medicalised model of mental health. To stop focusing on chemical imbalances and start focusing on power imbalances.

"The results of New Script’s community consultation show that both people using mental health services, and those working in these services, together have solutions to the current crisis, solutions that put connection and choice at the centre. We look forward to MLAs getting involved in this conversation and helping create a #newscript for mental health."

For more information on New Script for Mental Health campaign, please visit: www.nlb.ie/campaigns/mental-health