Call for new mental health awareness campaign

Sinn FÃ©in Vice president and party spokesperson on mental health and suicide prevention Mary Lou McDonald with participants in an recent event she hosted in An CultÃºrlann UÃ ChanÃ¡in Derry on Mental Health 'It's ok not to be ok' included speakers Mickey Doherty ,CaolÃ¡n Doherty and Sarah Curran from Mens Action Network in Derry.

It comes after Mary Lou McDonald TD launched a Sinn Féin campaign on mental health to coincide with the ‘SeeChange’ Green Ribbon project.

Mrs McLaughlin said: “I believe that there is a lot we could learn from this campaign that could be applied here in the North also. Mental Health like other health issues knows no borders.

“The ‘SeeChange’ campaign is designed to remove the stigma surrounding mental health through education, increasing awareness and through the message that ‘it’s OK not to be OK’. We need to encourage those who have concerns about mental health or suicide to raise these concerns openly.

“This encouragement will include meeting, listening to and working with those involved in the mental health sector and campaigning on the issues that they identify,”.

Ms McCallion said that in the coming months Sinn Féin will engage in a series of events, and draw up proposals to “help close the glaring gaps in existing mental health services”.