eMental Healthcare

A new survey by Mental Health Reform found that 84% of Irish respondents feel that the health service places too little focus on mental health.

One in ten adults in Ireland has a mental health difficulty at any given time, while almost 20% of young people aged 19-24 and 15% of children aged 11-13 years have experienced a diagnosable mental health disorder at some point in their lives. More shockingly, in May of this year, over 6,500 children and young people were waiting for their first psychological appointment.

With Government investment of over €200m between 2012 and 2018, the system cannot cope with the number of people looking for support. Mental Health Reform says staffing in mental health services is lower now than it was in 2008 and it is calling on the Government to boost investment in the area.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mental Health Reform Director Dr Shari McDaid said: “The fact is, that if we invested in our mental health service, it would reduce costs throughout the health service because a lot of other health conditions are exacerbated by not having the mental health care in place.