July Share your Experience of Using Mental Health Services or Supports

Have your voice heard in Ireland’s First Annual Youth Mental Health Conference

YOULEAD, a mental health research group led NUI Galway’s School of Psychology, is collaborating with SPUNOUT.ie to look for young people to share their opinions on Irish mental health services and supports. These submissions will form part of Ireland’s first Youth Mental Health Conference in the autumn.

The first Youth Mental Health Conference will consist of a series of online lunchtime events from 5-9 October, leading up to World Mental Health Day on Saturday, 10 October. Throughout the conference national and international experts will be discussing their understanding of the mental health needs of young people, and the resources young people need.

During the week, YOULEAD will dedicate time during one of the lunchtime sessions to presenting the experiences of young people using mental health services/supports in Ireland, with the aim of providing a platform for young people to share their experiences with others. The goal is to showcase multiple voices of young people, reflecting their experience of mental health services. A number of submissions will be performed by actors with the performance being shown online during the conference. As this is a creative piece that will be performed, artistic license might be used. So, words, sentences or quotes, combined with other pieces, may be used to form a cohesive artistic piece.

Professor Gary Donohoe, Established Professor of Psychology at NUI Galway, said: “A crucial element for developing the mental health services needing by young people is knowing what they think and what they have experienced. This is as much to identify the positives we can build on as the negatives we should address. We'd like to give as many young people as possible a chance to share their experiences with us.”

YOULEAD are asking young people, aged between 18-25 years and living in Ireland, to submit a word, sentences or story on your opinion of mental health services/supports in Ireland. Pieces can include, but is not limited to: What is/was your experience of mental health services/supports? What would your ideal mental health service look like? What advice would you give to someone trying to access support services in Ireland?

To submit please complete the YOULEAD form on the SPUNOUT website at https://spunout.ie/opinion/article/share-your-experience-using-mental-health-services-supports. The closing date for submissions is Friday, 31 July.

For further information on the first Youth Mental Health Research Meeting visit https://www.nuiglaway.ie/youlead/events. To register for the Meeting visit https://bit.ly/2BkHyit. For further queries please contact gary.donohoe@nuigalway.ie.

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