Sacred Heart Students Participate in West Cork Mental Health Day

On Tuesday the 12th of February, students from eleven schools attended a Youth Mental Health Day in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway in which the theme for the day was “Good 2 Talk”. Posters designed by students from Clonakilty Community College on the walls illustrated the message visually throughout the day. A warm welcome of  tea, coffee and smiling faces on arrival set the tone for the day. Many schools took the opportunity to have their photos taken with Mr Jim Daly, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People.

The programme for the day kicked off at 10am, with an onstage welcome and introduction from Martin Mulcrone MC for the day and  Minister Daly. This brought us on to our speakers for the rest of the morning.

First up were 5 Transition Year girls from Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, who are currently working on a YSI project called “Move Your Feet to the Beat”. Their goal is to reduce social anxiety in teenagers and create a fun and healthy way to socialise by reviving social dancing. They had the crowd dancing to the beat after the girls taught them some dance moves.

“Jigsaw,”  an organisation dedicated to preventing mental health issues from developing in young people aged 12- 25 outlined the role they play in Mental Health. This is an organisation that more people should definitely know about, as they do not act as an emergency service, their goal is rather  to catch signs of mental health issues in the earlier stages before it develops into something worse.

Mairin O Donovan of CAMHS facilitated an inspiring interview  with someone who shared their personal experience of managing mental health. John suffered from depression and anxiety from his early to mid teenage years, to the point where he often couldn’t attend school. He worked with the  professionals in CAMHS and outlined the benefits he gained from this experience. The advice he imparted was to “go talk to someone”.

Finally, it was time for some workshops. These included; A workshop with Jigsaw, Transactional Analysis, Meditation, Chakra Dance, Boxing, Group Singing and a workshop with CAMHS.

Article By Sophie Hurley