Health Minister Leo Varadkar
€12million of the €36million mental health budget is being transferred to other areas in the Department of Health, after the money – which was set aside to recruit staff – was not spent…
Health Minister Leo Varadker has said the mental health budget will be fully restored next year.
Further to this, a teenager has written a piece for Fiona Kennedy‘s mental health blog, Sunny Spells And Scattered Showers.
They write:
I am seventeen years old and attend the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). My mother works in the in-patients building, so I’ve heard bits about that. I was referred to this service by Jigsaw, and only had a couple week’s wait for either service.
For this I am extremely grateful, you know the difference time like that can make.
I know more than several young people attending CAMHS, Jigsaw, and other service like myself. Schools of late have been running workshops and events based around mental health and wellbeing. I am so fortunate to have all these services and things to help myself and others my age.
However, in five months time I will be turning 18. I’m in the thick of my treatment, and myself, my parents, and my psychiatrist all seem to have this time of me becoming an adult looming over our heads.
It seems that when we become legal adults, there’s almost nothing for us. I don’t understand how this could be. With so many young people going from child to adult areas, what will become of us with constant cuts?
What of those who will need long term treatment after their adolescent years? How much will we have to fight for?
Let me once again reiterate just how thankful I am for my current situation, and yet there is a constant fear of the unknown over all I am fortunate enough to receive as a “child and adolescent”.
Concern over transfer of €12m from mental health funds (RTE)
Yesterday: ‘HSE Keeps Me From Dying But Does Little To Help Me Live’
Mark Stedman/Rollingnews