April 15, 2011
Mental Health
Think happy thoughts . . . and earn €1 for charity
Irish Times (Tuesday, 12 April 2011)
A social campaign set up yesterday by Headstrong, the national centre for youth mental health, will see O2 donate up to €200,000 to support youth mental health. For every happy thought posted – via the website o2thinkbig.ie – to a person’s social networking site, the telecommunications company will donate €1 to the centre.
Mental Health Service
Youth admissions to adult psychiatric unit undesirable
Irish Examiner (Thursday, 14 April 2011)
The continued admission of children to an adult psychiatric unit in Limerick was "undesirable", the Mental Health Commission has warned. The comment came after it emerged that 17 children, aged between 14 and 18, were admitted to Limerick Regional Hospital's 5B unit.
Irish Examiner (Thursday, 14 April 2011)
The Irish Association of Suicidology is training St. Vincent de Paul volunteers to enable them to identify client likely to be suffering from mental health problems.
HSE says it is fully committed to closure of Limerick psychiatric hospital
Irish Examiner (Monday, 11 April 2011)
The Health Service Executive has confirmed it is fully committed to the closure of St Joseph's psychiatric hospital in Limerick. The number of patients at the early 19th century-built hospital will be cut from 53, almost a year ago, to 27 within the coming weeks.
Mental Ill Health
Schizophrenia research breakthrough
Irish Times (Thursday, 14 April 2011)
Researchers can now study the causes of schizophrenia and the effects of medication on specific patients using little more than a few cells in a dish. As a result of a remarkable piece of new research, scientists can now watch in detail what is happening inside individual brain cells of patients with the disorder.
Suicide Prevention
Campaign to put suicide crisis centres dose to all
Irish Examiner (Tuesday, 12 April 2011)
Suicide prevention service Pieta House wants a crisis centre no more than 100 miles from everyone in Ireland to try and stop the 10 deaths from suicide that occur every week. Chief Executive Joan Freeman said this is not just a vision but a hope which would become a reality in the years to come. "We have already opened five centres in five years so it is very much a reality," she said.
Most suicidal people reacting to specific events, says counsellor
Irish Times (Tuesday, 12 April 2011)
Joan Freeman, Chief Executive of the suicide prevention charity Pieta House, has claimed nine out of 10 suicidal people who present to her therapeutic service for counselling are without a psychiatric history and are instead responding to a difficult event in their lives. She said individuals who are dealing with specific difficulties need immediate intervention to prevent self-harm and even suicide.
