Week 1

Today, marks the beginning of a six week journey myself and my colleagues will embark on which will culminate in the Aware Harbour to Harbour Walk. This walk is aimed at increasing the publics knowledge regarding mental health illnesses. Together, we are excited to improve our knowledge and the knowledge of our peers regarding mental health.

As a group we have watched a number of encapsulating Aware resilience videos which featured well known Irish people such as Alan Quinlan, Nicole Owens, Elaine Crowley and David Gillick. Right away we learned that even the most successful people suffer mental health difficulties. Nicole Owens a Dublin ladies footballer really hit home to us with her struggles with depression and anxiety. As young men we could relate to Nicole’s struggles with anxiety as we are often under pressure with upcoming exams and deadlines. She highlighted magnificently the importance of speaking about our issues, be it with a loved one or a therapist. As group we hope to continue to spread the word that “ it’s ok not to be ok: and its absolutely ok to ask for help.” (cycle against suicide) As the saying goes “ a problem shared is a problem halved”

Elaine Crowley also made a number of interesting points. Elaine stated that she treats her mental health illness no differently to any other illness and neither should anybody else. In recent times there is a stigma attached to a mental health illness which in reality is madness. Taking a tablet for i.e. depression should be treated no differently to taking a tablet for a headache.

As a whole we are excited to explore and deepen our knowledge in relation to mental health throughout this elective module. This blog will be updated weekly, informing all of our readers of our exploits throughout the week.

Eoin, Emad, Abdullah, Mohammad, Mohammed