Waterford Minister says she is concerned about loneliness in the aftermath of Covid-19
The minister said men are more likely to take their own lives and less likely to seek support. Stock Image.
Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler says she is concerned about loneliness in the aftermath of Covid-19.
The Minister was asked by the media at the official opening of the An Garrán housing estate in Tramore if she was concerned about the ESRI Loneliness Study, which found that 15% of people in Ireland suffer from loneliness.
She said that older people found it hard to get back out after the lockdowns ended, while young people missed out on many social milestones.
“Many people, especially older people, found it hard to reconnect, to say hello again, world, to step back out.
“We did a survey back in 2023 and we discovered that 40% of people who used to go to mass previously, no longer go.
“Did they lose their faith? No, they didn’t, but they did lose their confidence and I suppose what they also lost was, you know, the routine of going to the shop, collecting their pension. We've seen that a lot.
"In relation to younger people, there was a big hang up since Covid. There was a lot of people- young people, students who never did their junior certs, their leaving cert, never got the chance to do their debs ball, for example.
“Their first couple of years in college were actually spent online and that has made a profound difference,” said Minister Butler.
But Minister Butler said her department was putting supports in place.
She said the new Navigator tool developed by her department in partnership with Spun Out was aimed at helping people aged 13 to 34 find support.
The minister also said that in September, she made 15,000 counselling hours available for men who are statistically less likely to seek help for mental health concerns.
Four out of five suicides in Ireland were male. Two-thirds of all counselling supports are accessed in the country will be accessed by women.
“So, 15,000 free counselling hours in 20 different languages.
“Partnering with the travelling community, the retired veteran community, the Irish Farmers Association and some of these counselling supports can be done from your kitchen table from 5pm to 9pm seven nights a week, so yourmenatlhealth.ie/men,” said Minister Butler.
And targeted mental health measures are not the way the Minister intends to address the loneliness problem.
She said that building homes and communities addresses many of the issues people suffer from.
“This is why I was delighted to be here today at An Garrán, because specifically for older people, there is a little community here and having the support of other people and we were in St Joseph’s earlier inside in the city centre, where there are 71 homes for older people.
“You know who right-sized for their homes, but having the wrap-around supports is really important,” said Minister Butler.
