Keane urges community to get on board and support local mental health organisations

Fine Gael candidate in the Dublin South West bye-election, Senator Cáit Keane, has called on people to support the local mental health organisations, saying the work they do is often unacknowledged.

“This is Health and Wellbeing week in our area – an initiative that’s been devised by South Dublin County Council and supported by the agencies and organisations in the area that work to improve and support our mental and bodily health and wellbeing.

“I attended the mental health seminar, “As We Age” today in the County Library, and was hugely encouraged to see a focus on older people with regard to this topic,” Senator Keane explained. “I’ve focused on caring for our elderly previously, but in a practical way. It was worrying to see how the ageing process can affect a person’s mental state and the knock-on effects it can have on their physical well-being,” she continued.

“The entire conversation about mental health has opened up for us and I think we are making progress into stamping out some of the shame people have felt in the past about experiencing a mental illness. The next step is to focus on how different stages affect different age groups and there are a number of local organisations making a huge impact in tackling some of the problems here on the ground.

“Teen-Line was established by a parent whose child took his own life. It provides a daily telephone counselling service and is reliant on the goodwill and commitment of its volunteers to maintain this level of vital service for 13-19 year olds who may be feeling under pressure. I fully support the work Teen-Line does, and was disappointed to learn that they have had cuts to their funding. I will be raising their case with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr. James Reilly TD.

“With so much focus on our economy, there is a risk that we forget we are also people, living and working alongside each other, and sometimes things mightn’t be going okay. It’s good to know there are excellent organisations here that we can turn to if we need help. I would urge people in Tallaght and Templeogue to familiarise themselves with the organisations focused on mental health in our community and to support them, if they can. We don’t know when we might need their services ourselves, so we should give them a hand when we can.”