Grenagh wellness event hailed as attaining status of holy grail
The wellness ‘gathering’ held in Rathduff Hall was oversubscribed with about 65 people braving the elements.
“That’s a big number when you’re talking about mental health. It’s very hard to get people to walk through that door”, says Sorcha Lowry, campaign manager with See Change, an alliance of organisations working to reduce stigma attached to mental health problems.
“The fact some men came is the holy grail for us because men don’t talk about mental health — they don’t engage with campaigns.”
Lowry put the event’s success down to it being organised locally by Grenagh Guild president Ena Howell.
“For us, the conversation [about mental health] has to happen at grassroots level. This event had the recognition of ICA, which made it authentic, credible and less daunting for people,” she said.
Gavin O’Donovan was one of four speakers who addressed the meeting. Now aged 23, he told of the survivor’s guilt he suffered after recovering from a kidney cancer that hit him as a seven-year-old.
“Five of us were admitted on the same day in Crumlin. Only two of us are still alive. I got the all-clear in 2010. I blamed myself that the others didn’t survive.
“If I hadn’t been there, maybe one of them would have had more time with the doctor and that would have improved their chances,” he said.
Gavin spoke of his depression arising from these thoughts and how a chance remark by a homeless man on St Patrick’s Bridge in Cork began his journey towards mental wellness.
“I stopped to give him a few bob. He said he was homeless but that between the two of us I looked worse. Some random person on the street could see I wasn’t dealing with things. That gave me the kick I needed. I contacted the Samaritans, got the courage to get counselling and that turned things around for me,” he says.
Gavin felt a lot of positive energy from the Grenagh audience, which included non-ICA members.
“You could tell people wanted to be there.”
Speaking about the motivation behind the event, Ena Howell said: “We all feel we need to look after our health. But with the attached stigma, some people find it difficult to discuss their issues,” she says.
Other speakers on the night were Edwina Boyce of Pharmacy First Plus in Grenagh, who talked about generic medicines, the amount of fat in our bodies and the importance of diet and exercise; Bernadette McFadden, “whose lovely calming voice,” says Ena, “soon had the audience in a pleasant state of mindfulness and relaxation”; and Grenagh GP Eileen O’Leary, who revealed from a survey conducted that evening that music, dancing and gardening topped the list as wellness tools for members of the audience.
