Warning over mental aftershocks of Covid
A MENTAL health charity chief has warned of a ‘slowburn effect’ from the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on people’s mental wellbeing.
Mental Health Ireland CEO Martin Rogan told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that while many people coped in the immediacy of lockdown measures, the aftermath might not be felt for some time.
The Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, which discussed the impact the pandemic has had on mental health services, heard that demand for help had increased by 200%.
The revelation came as the CEO of the Mental Health Commission said Ireland’s services are not fit for purpose and are out of date.
John Farrelly told the Covid-19 committee there is a need to invest properly in community services and to stop ‘making excuses’. He said: ‘There was a report published this week by the HSE and it shows significant issues around waiting times for people. To put it frankly, our mental health system is not fit for purpose and out of date.
‘We need to invest in it and invest in the community.
‘There is no doubt that until we invest properly in our community services and stop making excuses that we have some kind of a service then really what we’re looking for, for our children, is not going to improve in this day and age.’
In response, the HSE’s head of operations for mental health, Jim Ryan, said he ‘fully respects the view of the independent regulator’. He added: ‘I fully agree that there is always a need for further resources within mental health and we have been working within the resources we have to make the maximum use of staff we have.’
Mr Rogan, of Mental Health Ireland, said that mental health issues may be exacerbated throughout the crisis.
He said: ‘Sometimes when a person has a mental health issue they do their utmost to pretend they are fine. When some family members came together they discovered their partner, son or daughter was masking a significant mental health issue – be it anxiety, depression or perhaps an eating disorder,’ he told the committee.
‘We can expect to see a slowburn effect in terms of Covid. People cope in the immediacy of the here and now but when people look back they feel the dislocated effect from those certain routines that protected their health.’
The committee also heard there will be pent-up demand from schoolchildren for mental health services when schools reopen this autumn. Dr Brendan Doody, clinical director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at the Linn Dara centre in Ballyfermot, Dublin, told the committee there was a drop in demand for community child and adolescent mental health services, and in the number of referrals received during the pandemic.
The numbers are expected to increase significantly when young people return to school.
He said: ‘With regard to community services, there was a fall-off in demand for service and in the number of referrals received. However, service providers are expecting the number to increase and increase significantly when young people return to school in the autumn.
‘Young people remain under a significant degree of stress and I suppose one would expect there to be a pent-up demand for services so it is important that services are planning for the expected increase in referrals that will happen after the summer.’
Dr Joseph Duffy, CEO of Jigsaw – the National Centre for Youth Mental Health – said there had been a 200% rise in the number of people seeking support through its mental health platforms.
Kate Mitchell, senior policy and research officer at Mental Health Reform, said that a new survey showed the increase in prevalence of mental health difficulties and increase in demand for support.
A survey of 1,000 workers shows that one in three (29.2%) people in Ireland admit that they have struggled with their mental health over the past three months.
Job security appears to be the biggest concern for working professionals, with 30.8% worried about losing their jobs.
The study found that 18.2% of
‘We can expect a slow-burn effect’ ‘Don’t compare well with Europe’
people who were unemployed have struggled with their mental health in recent months. Amongst this group, 63.6% have worried about being able to find a new job; 18.2% have worried about their health; and 9.1% have worried about their finances.
The World Health Organisation recommends 12% of total health spending should be allocated to mental health care. In Ireland, this number is less than 7%.
Mr Rogan also said that Ireland did not compare well with its European partners in relation to its mental health budget.