LIFE A TRY’
saying the only issue was that they were so busy.
She said people were kept in St Senan’s for too long, adding that the community-based mental health care model is working.
‘It’s working for me and my team at Maryville are excellent. They’d know when I’m sick before I do from the way I was talking. They would say: “Anne, I think you might need to take a time out” and I would to go a respite centre for a few days. The Tearman centre is lovely and there are nurses on duty and they are only there to ensure that you are fed.
‘You give them your medication when you arrive and they watch you take it at night. An Tearman is a first class place, it’s bright and airy and welcoming. It’s a circular building so you can’t get lost and there is a lovely, homely feel to it.
‘You have an art room and a TV room and a dining room and every room has an ensuite.’
She said people are free to come and go as they please into Enniscorthy town.
‘It’s a home away from home. It’s a place you can go to look after yourself. You don’t just sit and vegetate. I was there last year but if I needed to go in the morning I’d be welcomed back and that is a comfort for me. The staff are great and most of them worked in St Senan’s.’
She said long-term help is needed to battle depression and there is no quick fix.
‘Once you are in the services you are in (long term) and once you accept the help you will get better.’
She said men often find it difficult to express their pain. ‘You have to give life a try. Try art, try music. It’s all good for you. I learned how to do glass painting where you transfer a drawing onto a mirror. It’s so therapeutic. For years I was ‘ Oh Anne Foley, she has depression’ but now it’s ‘Oh there’s Anne Foley, she’s a mental health advocate. She works with the HSE and she is on telly and on the radio. She has come out the other side and she is there if people need help.”’
She said people need people to look out for young people.
‘I know of one young man from New Ross who went in to a shop to buy paracetamol. When he was asked what he wanted it for he said he wanted to swallow all the tablets to overdose on them.
‘ The woman in the shop dealt with him as best she could. He was being bullied and his arms were in bits from cutting himself. His school was contacted. The problem is they feel they had nobody to talk to. When you are depressed you have to be open to talking to people. ‘You have to make it real. There is no point saying you are feeling terrible when you haven’t picked up the phone to talk to someone.’
Anne is encouraged by the way mental health has become more of a talking point in the Dáil, but said more funding needs to be provided.
‘We are moving on slowly now in the right direction. There are so many advocates now; people who fought depression who are now highlighting it. There is still a lot of stigma about it and a long way to go.’