I was asked recently how mental health has changed for young people in Ireland in the past 10 years. The truth is it hasn't. Mental health is the same as it was 10 years ago, but what has changed is the context in which people can access services and public discussion can take place. I feel a space has been created where it's okay to talk about mental health difficulties, conversations can take place around it, and people are no longer afraid to ask or look for help.
My introduction to youth mental health happened six years ago when I was 16. I was in transition year in Kerry at the time and my whole year was being encouraged to take up extra-curricular projects which we had a passion for. I knew I wanted to do something about mental health, but I had no idea where to begin.
Peer discussion
This wasn't something that was being discussed among my peers at the time. I guess I was lucky that I had a family who were very open about mental health and it was freely spoken about at home. I was aware, however, that we were somewhat of an anomaly in terms of Irish families and I was eager to encourage more kitchen conversations around mental health.
By chance, my dad, an avid newspaper reader, told me of a few people who covered this topic on a regular basis and this is where I started. So after some research, and a lot of tea and chats with people actively involved in the field of mental health promotion, I began to organise a forum for second-year students in my school.
Youth forum
With a group of friends who were also interested in the project, we hosted a full- day forum with 200 second-year students on youth mental health. At the forum we asked the simple question, "What comes to mind when you think of the term mental health?"
The answers were pretty much what you would have expected – “crazy”, “mad”, “hospital” and so on. They were talking about mental illness, not mental health. When we asked them where would they go if they were going through a tough time, they had no idea. To be honest, the counselling centre that would have been appropriate for me to access if I needed support was on the grounds of my old primary school and I had no idea it was there. I went to school there for 10 years and never knew the service existed. Mental health was firmly in the shadows at that time.
Many sectors of Irish society have stepped in to take mental health out of the shadows and shed some light on the topic. Colleges, non-governmental organisations, the public and the Government among others are trying to change deeply ingrained attitudes towards mental health which has been shrouded in stigma and shame for so long.
Organisations are taking a positive and unique step by involving young people and their communities in the process of service development for youth mental health. Groups are less inclined now to dictate what is best for young people in an area; they are willing to listen to young people about how to create a service that would be accessible to them.
I rang an old teacher of mine recently to get a feeling of what second-year students would say now to the same question I asked at the forum six years ago. The response she got was astounding. When asked what came to mind when young people thought of mental health in 2013 they said; "friends", "talking", "it's okay not to be okay".
Hopeful feedback
A far cry from the responses I received when I was in school.This quick feedback from my old school gives me hope that mental health is no longer a topic reserved for those taking on extra-curricular projects.
As a young person growing up, I have seen what I think is the conversation around mental health maturing. We have made a lot of progress. Mental health is now part of the national conversation and more emphasis is being placed on minding our mental health. If we are to maintain this progress, it is important that we do not allow mental health to slip back into the unspoken.
Ruth Baker is a member of the Youth Advisory Panel to Headstrong – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health