Sir, – It seems that funding for mental health has been cut and the money diverted elsewhere. I would agree with Minister for Health Leo Varadkar that it’s not all about funding and that changes are needed.
I think it’s important also to differentiate between serious mental illness and mental health.
Yes mental health is relevant for all, but serious mental illness strikes a minority. It is this vulnerable minority which needs to be prioritised now, and whatever funding is available should be directed towards them.
There is rarely a mention of the absence still of acceptable successful treatment for serious mental illness, or the early deaths or high cancer and heart disease rates in this minority, or quality of life for them.
They tend to be so easily overlooked. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET O’NEILL,
Dublin 16.