Derek Cosgrove
Miriam writes:
My friend Derek [Cosgrove] passed away tragically after taking his own life [his body was discovered in the River Shannon December 6, 2016]. Derek’s mother Majella gave a very emotional speech about her son and the mental health services in Ireland. Could you share this [below] as I think it is really important for people to read this about the state of our mental health services in Ireland with their continuous cuts to funding and increased pressure on nurses and doctors….
Derek was diagnosed with depression following a psychotic episode three years ago. Majella Cosgrove said her son had recently changed his medication.“which led to sleepless nights, anxiety and fear”.
Via The Limerick Leader…
“We have services here in Ireland that are supposed to support us – the mental health service, which Derek and I trusted and they let us down. Derek is gone. He was failed by the very system that was supposed to help him.
In society, we are all affected by suicide. We hear the helicopters and it sends chills down us. We see search and rescue boats. We see candles, flowers placed on bridges.
Why are Irish families suffering in silence? What can we do? Why is it being accepted? Why does our mental health service not have proper supports in place? Why is medication not more closely monitored? Why is funding not a priority set by our government?
Is the answer a simple one? Is it because people suffering with mental health issues have no voice? They have no voice. They have no power.”
Majella Cosgrove at Derek’s funeral {more below[
How was he let down,no information about what happened. And I’m genuinely asking, if the service’s that should be helping did something wrong or a basically just useless people need to know.
In Limerick a lot of the suicides are by jumping of the bridges into the Shannon – the temperature and strong currents mean death is pretty likely. There are volunteer patrols on both banks of the Shannon in the city centre at night looking for vulnerable people. Its pretty normal for search and rescue boats to be on the river on Sunday and Monday mornings looking to recover a body. Grim stuff.
I don’t know the detail but it seems like the same old story, ‘the system’ focuses on treating the symptoms but not the cause, which means that the person will either take longer to recover or not recover at all. There needs to be better access to talking therapies which help the person to deal with the underlying cause of their mental health issue.
Exactly this.
it’s akin to putting a sticky plaster on a ten inch would with a bleeding artery. Pointless.
My thoughts, with Majella and of Derek, RIP fella.
Because FF/ FG/ Lab don’t care about mental health. They don’t give a flying monkies. They’ve all got private health insurance, and they regard those who don’t have it as scum. That’s the sad truth. They pay lip service to mental health provisions, and cut, cut, cut at every opportunity.
Cot
How are you any better?
You hate the following:
Middle class people
People with health insurance
Those who own one house
Men who wear suits
Ha , he has you there
Services in this country are whoefully inadequate. In 2009 after years of hiding the horrors of my past I had a nervous breakdown. Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of my childhood was happy and I had happy memories. But I was the victim of something horrible.
I sought help with my Doctor and he was fantastic and put me onto my local mental health services. I’m lucky that I live where I live . It took about a week to get to see someone. They were professional and nothing short of excellent. They started me down the right path to getting proper help. 8 years on I’m married to my wife , who was an enormous wonderful help.
But you see, that’s the problem. The level of care I received (and it wasn’t on private insurance ) was first class. It really was. It should be like that nationwide, in every county of the country. But it’s not and it won’t be. I’m so sorry for your loss, it shouldn’t have happened. It’s a disgraceful, maddening and heartbreaking part of this country now
yes psych services are woefully inadequate. a few years ago I had a bit of breakdown.i went down the public route got to see a psychiatrist who said I was a perfect candidate for seeing a psychologist. i was put on the waiting list to see the psychologist. i never got to see the psychologist due I assume to the length of the waiting list. I got better in the meantime. if somebody wants to top themselves they will.