GAA star tackles mental illness in new campaign to fight stigma

A post from Independent.ie:

By Allison Bray
Thursday, December 27, 2007

FORMER GAA star Dessie Farrell is among a number of high-profile people appearing in a series of ads which began yesterday and are aimed at putting a human face on mental illness.

The former Dublin football captain and current head of the Gaelic Players Association wrote about his own battle with depression in his autobiography 'Tangled Up in Blue'.

He is now spearheading a campaign by the National Disability Authority (NDA) to help erase the stigma associated with conditions such as depression and schizophrenia.

He, along with 'Sunday Independent' journalist Carol Hunt, Bodywhys chairperson Marie Devine and chess whiz Paul Leavy, courageously reveal how they are able to lead full, productive lives despite their own personal struggles respectively with depression, anorexia and schizophrenia.

The television ads, which will air for the next fortnight, reveal the various facets of each personality -- including their roles at home and in the workplace, their likes, interests and the mental health challenges they have faced. Radio ads will begin airing tomorrow followed by billboard ads on bus shelters beginning on New Year's Day.

Ms Hunt (42) has written about her battle with post-natal depression following the birth of her two children and her ongoing battle with depression.

Susceptible

She chose to take part in the €500,000 campaign, entitled Challenging Attitudes to Mental Health, to drive home the message that anyone can be susceptible to mental illness.

"There still are a lot of people who firmly believe that any type of depression is some sort of personality weakness, which is quite amazing," she said.

Paul Leavy (26) was first diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17 and has suffered two breakdowns. But with the help of doctors, friends and family, he now enjoys a full life as a mental health advocate for the Health Service Executive, as well as teaching chess and running a local club and coaching children's soccer.

"There's definitely a stigma attached to schizophrenia and to mental illness in general. People look at people having these mental illnesses as being 'mad, crazy, nuts, lunatics'. They don't realise that a person is a person and the illness is a part of them, it's not them as a whole. People can actually live an active, full, everyday life along with having their illness," he said.

Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health and Disability Jimmy Devins, who launched the campaign, said the same kind of stigma exists around mental illness today as it did 20 years ago when conditions like alcoholism were seen as shameful, moral lapses, instead of diseases from which people can recover.

Yet in reality, one-in-four people will suffer from some kind of mental illness at some stage in their lives, according to the World Health Organisation and negative stereotypes will only hinder people from getting help or recovering, he said.

"No one is immune from poor mental health. Perceptions around mental illness need to be broken. Mental health is as important as physical health and I welcome this NDA campaign which will increase awareness."