I have made my feeling on the state of mental health services in Ireland known in asides many times. But this Mental Health Day highlighted the disconnect between what the Irish government and its various agencies claims, and what they put into practise. The Green Ribbon (#EndtheStigma) campaign caught the support of numerous politicians. The …
The Selfish Side of Self-Sufficiency
A lot of people discuss and focus on individual action in reaction to political or social problems rather than wider changes. I mentioned this in my Marxism and Mental Health video. Most of the time this is to distract people’s attention from a lack of action on the part of those with the most power. …
Marxism and Mental Health
“The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.” (Marx 1859) In what way is health, in particular mental health a highly political and potential radical issue? In …
Abrasive
I am abrasive. I am armed to the teeth with knives of hand and mind and fangs and quips behind these lips so it can be unwise to tell me to smile. So despite a love/hate relationship with the word I have an abrasive personality, But then I came by it honestly. I inherited it …
My Body is a Battleground
Are you the subject of debate? Not a debater or a judge but a motion waiting to be carried or defeated. And to hate someone not because they are evil but because they see you as an object for argument. Your existence is a political opinion. You are fair game for showing up. And I …
Losing a friend
My dog Cian, of nearly seventeen years, died today. I’ve lived with Cian nearly my entire life. My memories before him are fragmented because I was too young. I don’t really know what to do. I said goodbye this morning but I couldn’t go to the vets, it was too much. Cian is a very …
Orla ní Dhúill 