'Reach out' if you are struggling - SOSAD co-ordinator

“Come through the door, what have you got to lose?”

A mental health charity coordinator is urging people who are experiencing difficulties to reach out and avail of supports and services.

The call comes following a difficult few weeks in a number of communities across Cavan and Monaghan.

SOSAD Cavan Coordinator Christine Wynne says a common phrase they hear from people who are in crisis is “nobody understands how I feel”.

“They feel like they are the only people who have ever gone through this walk,” she continues.

“We are still living in a world where there is that element of stigma, being judged, people will know I am coming [to counselling]; none of that is true,” assures Christine who’s also on the senior management team for the service in this region.

She says, nowadays, many public access support services in one guise or another.

Christine finds that, when people come once, they “always” come back.

She encourages anybody who is experiencing a “dip” in their mood, or a change in their lifestyle, family dynamics or relationships, to reach out and avail of their services.

“We all have natural stress but anything outside of that... That’s the time to be reaching out because we don’t want those things escalating and becoming bigger.”

Christine says people can learn skills to better cope with times when these “life things” come again.

“It is about reaching out,” she said, whether this is the person themselves, a family member, friend, a coach, or an employer.

She shares the story of a man who availed of their services a number of years ago.

“He said he’d rather lift the phone a thousand times to friends at different times of the day, than lift one phone call to say that a friend has passed away from suicide.

“Sometimes when people are in a dark space they think ‘I’m going to be judged’.”

Christine encourages them to ask the question: “If this was my loved one or my friend, I wouldn’t judge them, so why should it be any different for me?’.

SOSAD provides a fully confidential, person-centred and professional approach.

“When they come here, they are talking to somebody who knows nothing about them, they’re talking to a stranger, someone who is trained in that field, someone who will make no pre-conceptions or judgements about them.

“It is a safe space to offload and that makes a massive difference to people because the weight on your shoulders is a little bit less when you have been talking to somebody who knows nothing about you.”

SOSAD have seen an increase in people availing of the service overall, however due to the good weather there has been a slight dip recently in new clients coming to the service, something Christine described as “natural”.

She believes the increase in service users represents more people looking after their mental health and reaching out for help, and not necessarily an increase in people who are struggling.

“Our whole ethos is suicide prevention through early intervention and that prevention piece starts earlier than the crisis piece. I think a lot of us are more in tune with our mental health.”

SOSAD offers bereavement therapy and a counselling service in Cavan and Monaghan, which are face-to-face therapies, along with their online Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) group which takes place one per week.

The team offers remote counselling for those who need it, while they also have a drop-in service at their Cavan centre. This latter service provides a sitting room where people can come in for a chat and a cup of tea in a relaxing environment, and is open from 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

Christine also listed other services locally such as Teach Oscail, Tullacmongan Resource Centre, HSE therapies, Merchant’s Quay, the Cavan and Monaghan Drug & Alcohol Service, Cuan Cancer Support and Monaghan Crocus Support. The Hugg Charity provides services for people who have been bereaved by suicide.

“Suicide bereavement leaves its own unanswered questions, it doesn’t have the explanation that a lot of other deaths do so that [HUGG] is a group setting with other people who have walked the walk essentially.

“There are an awful lot of services around for people,” she highlights.

“Google would be a great start because a lot of people sit on their phone now. If you literally put in services in Cavan or Monaghan, or whatever area you are in, you are going to get them.

Some services have waitlists some don’t, some have a fee and some don’t but you can find the right one for you, but you will only know if you pick up the phone and ring.”