‘Keeping it lit’ mental health event taking place in Castlerea

The organisers of a very special event next week in Castlerea, aimed at sustaining mental health and wellness in rural communities, hope it will mark the beginning of a conversation where people in a crisis can be reassured that there are supports available.

The ‘Keeping it lit’ evening — taking place tomorrow evening, Thursday, February 15, at 7 p.m. in the Trinity Arts Centre — was borne out of the number of suicides in Castlerea and surrounding areas last year, Breege Callaghan explains.

Breege, one of the organisers, is a clinical nurse manager who has worked in mental health services for more than 20 years.

“We’ve had a number of suicides across this area, specifically last year.

“I suppose, as a parent living in the community and as a nurse working in the services, there seems to be a disconnect between the services or how the services work and what’s available for people or where the supports are,” she said.

Following on from one of the tragedies, Breege and a local mental health nurse, Phelim Nolan, organised a meeting in a local community hall with the assistance of the HSE’s SOS (Suicide or Survive) team — who are based in the primary care centre in Roscommon Town.

“One of the things that came out of that meeting was that people did not know where to go in a crisis. When someone has a heart attack, people in the community know where the defibrillator is, and people are also trained up in CPR. They know how to react straight away.

“They know who to contact. But if there is a mental health crisis, what happens? People actually don’t know where to go,” Breege adds.

She also believes that some people are still suffering in the fallout from the covid pandemic.

“There’s a level of anxiety in our communities all the time with people.

“Some people have more resilience than others and they can bounce back from it, and some haven’t that same resilience.

“We need to start talking and we need to be talking in a language that people understand around your mood, how you’re feeling, and where you go if you’re not feeling well.”

The Keeping it lit event is about making people aware of the range of services that are available in a mental health crisis.

“Information is power, knowledge is power, and we need to get that the knowledge out to people,” she said.

Information on support services will be available on the night of this free event, where three speakers will take centre stage.

Main guest speaker will be well-known writer and poet Michael Harding, who has the lived experience of dealing with depression.

Another speaker is JG Murphy, of Lecarrow Wellness, who works in the area of mental health and wellness, and has worked with farmers in how to manage stress and anxiety.

Castlerea native and manager of the St Kevin’s men’s senior GAA team Dara Bruen will talk about resilience, self-belief, and confidence.

Breege described the positive impact Dara and his team’s exploits on the pitch had on the local community last year asimmense.

Keeping it lit is supported by the HSE and funded by Roscommon Well Connected Social Prescribing, through Roscommon Leader Partnership.

“This free event is open to everybody, but we would like as many men as possible to attend because it’s men we need to be getting the message to.

“We want this to be the beginning of a conversation around mental health and wellness — that people are reassured that there is hope, and they know where to go for help.”