MAYOR’S SON ON HIS OWN BATTLES WITH DEPRESSION
AS MENTAL HEALTH CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE HEADLINES IN COUNTY WEXFORD, WE TALK TO A COUNSELLOR IAN COX ABOUT THE LACK OF SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. FRANK STAPLES JNR. OPENS UP ABOUT HIS OWN EXPERIENCES, AND HIS HOPES FOR THE ‘ASK’ CAMPAIGN, WHILE CARMEL
CHILDREN and adolescents suffering from potentially fatal mental health illnesses in the county have nowhere to turn to, a Wexford psychologist has warned.
Ian Cox, who runs Straight Up Counselling in New Ross, said conditions like anorexia and body dysmorphia are on the rise in the county over the past year, but there is nowhere for sufferers to turn to.
It emerged last month that 29 County Wexford schools do not have a National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) psychologist assigned to them while no outof-hours services are not available for children and adolescent mental health service) team, CAMHS clients across the county.
Two teenage girls were recently in the media, their cases once again highlighting the perils of the lack of an acute mental health unit in the county, and the complete dearth of a mental health service for children from 6 p.m. until 9 a.m.
Deputy Mick Wallace recently highlighted the case of a 14-year-old Wexford girl who wrote to Minister for Health recently having presented HSE twice with suicidal thoughts. The girl’s father died by suicide when she was younger and her uncle also took his own life. She received an acknowledgement, but nothing since. Deputy Wallace read the letter to the chamber, criticising the lack of mental health services in the county.
In March a Carlow teenager offered a place at a County Wexford school to escape bullies, attempted to take her own life and ended up in intensive care at Wexford General Hospital. The 18-year-old was subjected to cyber, verbal and physical bullying by two other girls at her school in County Carlow. Her mother said bullying should be tackled head on by school authorities and warned other parents to be vigilant about it and the 24/7 presence on social media.
Mr Cox said Slaney House in Wexford, which runs the county’s limited CHAMS service, has a lengthy waiting list and with the increase in cases of anorexia, bulimia and body dysmorphia, which is an anxiety disorder that causes a person to have a distorted view of how they look and to spend a lot of time worrying about their appearance, increasing numbers of children and adolescents are at risk of suicide.
‘Eating disorders are not just confined to girls,’ Mr Cox said. ‘ There are increasing instances of teenage boys playing rugby and football and they have body dysmorphic disorders where they obsess about their body image. For young people with eating disorders there is virtually nothing. There are no referrals being offered because there are not specialists in this field. The service is understaffed at Slaney House and there is no multi disciplinary team. I have a lot of clients who have to deal with their problems at home or through a psychologist.’
He said a nutritionist and a dietitian needs to work with the psychologist to ensure the youth can return to health.
‘Far too many private counsellors are having to deal with young people with eating disorders. They are completely out of their depth so they are putting themselves and their clients at risk. I am one of hundreds of counsellors in the county so you can multiply that figure. Of course there are varying degrees of severity, but my argument is that anorexia is potentially fatal. I love working with young people, but it’s the divide between public and private which is frustrating.’
He said: ‘Early intervention is absolutely essential. The earlier you catch anorexia the greater the chances of a long term recovery. Some cases are intractable but in most cases outcomes can be quite good.’
This can involve feeling the need to have the perfect six pack and Snapchat and Facebook reinforces this, along with their peers.’
Mr Cox has seen two patients suffering from this condition as clients in recent months and four more suffering from eating disorders.
He said figures from the Central Statistics Office over the past five years show that County Wexford is repeatedly in the top two counties for suicide outside of the main urban populated counties of Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
‘Since December there has been quite a spike in attempted suicides in the south east. I now of a child aged ten who attempted suicide in the county so what Deputy Wallace said is not shocking to me.’
Expressing grave concern about the lack of out-of-hours mental health services in the county, Dr Cox said: ‘After 6 p.m. you are on your own.’
He said teenagers in County Wexford are becoming increasingly stressed, so much so that they are becoming physically and mentally ill and are unable to attend school for up to one month.
Mr Cox said currently anyone who attempts to take their own life is arrested by gardaí and taken to Wexford General Hospital or University Hospital Waterford. ‘Invariably there is noone there to see them so they can end up at their local garda station. Sometimes they are sent back home. I went to the garda station in New Ross recently and offered to be on call to go and chat with people in the garda station cell after attempting to take their own life. I said I would do this free of charge, but I was told I couldn’t because they would be seen to be as supporting a local business.’
Mr Cox criticised the lack of linkages between private and public mental health care, adding that he tried to establish a network of on-call counsellors in the New Ross area, but there was no buy-in from the HSE.
The latest CSO figures are for 2014 when 26 Wexford residents took their own lives, 22 men and four women, placing the county second behind Kildare, outside of countiues with large urban populations (Dublin, Cork, Limerick).
‘Statistics from Barnardos, the Samaritans and Console are in line with the general figures.’
Many young Wexford people end up on waiting lists for Willow Grove adolescent unit at St Patrick’s Mental Hospital in Dublin.
‘Young people in the county are going to their doctor. They often overmedicate youths. We rely on GPs to refer people on to us but they are still working with the medical model or treating mental health. The best results come from combining medication with counselling.’
He said medication can help lower anxiety enabling young people to engage more effectively with counselling.
‘ The problem is when they come off medication they often don’t have the tools to deal with their lives. With counselling they can cognitively take on board the coping mechanisms and tips and skills and hopefully make a full recovery.’