An almost complete lack of adolescent psychiatry services in the State is hampering efforts to curb suicide rates and rates of drug and alcohol abuse among young people, it was claimed yesterday.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Veronica O'Keane made the claim at the publication of a report by the Irish Psychiatric Association (IPA) on the state of mental health services in the Republic and the need for a national mental health strategy.
Details of the report were contained in yesterday's Irish Times. Dr O'Keane said a survey had found 88 per cent of psychiatric service providers had no access to adolescent psychiatry.
"Obviously in Ireland if we are trying to counteract the epidemic of alcohol abuse and soaring rates of suicide among young men in particular we really need these services," she said. It will not be possible to effectively counteract these problems without specialist adolescent services".
Dr O'Keane, who lectures at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, said she was shocked by the finding. "It's pretty inconceivable in a modern European country," she said.
Furthermore, she said the peak age of onset of severe and enduring mental illnesses like schizophrenia was 17. "This means the most common and severe mental illness occurs at a time when there are no services for this age group," she said.
In addition, she said there were virtually no specialist psychiatry services for brain- injured people.
Dr Justin Brophy, chairman of the IPA, said mental health services needed a radical overhaul. They were underfunded, particularly in the most deprived areas of the State, where they were most needed, he said.