The stigma still attached to mental health issues needs to be overcome

It is refreshing and relieving at the start of the 2015/16 school year to see that public awareness is realising the need for students to have access to an open line of communication to share their anxieties/problems.

Congratulations are due to Niall Breslin for the setting up of Walk in My Shoes Helpline and also to Carrigaline Community School having been awarded Ambassdor School status by the Cycle Against Suicide charity.

However, even in the Ireland of today, there is still a stigma attached to mental issues that needs to be overcome. The recent approval of the right to gay marriage in a country that could not see outside the doors of the Catholic church for many years, shows how society is overcoming some prejudices but mental problems can still be a taboo subject.