Invisible pain needs compassion

Lady Gaga may be one of the main attractions of Irish cinema at the moment with her compelling remake of the 1937 classic movie A Star Is Born, but it is in one of her other roles as high-profile campaigner for mental welfare that she can be called to mind this morning.

Lady Gaga, real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, speaking of people suffering from stress, anxiety and depression in 2016 famously declared “no one’s invisible pain should go unnoticed”. It was a sentiment which like Shakespeare’s Puck put a girdle round the earth in 40 minutes.