Mental Health Counsellor Sparks Conversation On Youth Suicide With Collection Of Poetry

Suicide continuing to affect so many young people across Ireland.

One carolans using her own lived experience to spark important conversations.

Sheila MacMahon, a mental health counselor, has just published a powerful collection

of poetry written during her teenage years while struggling with depression, hoping to raise awareness

and help others feel less alone. Sheila, good morning to you and thank you so much for joining us.

I'm absolutely good morning to you and your listeners.

Sheila, can you tell us a little bit more about your background and becoming a mental health

counselor? Yeah, absolutely. So I suffered with depression and anxiety and panic attacks in my

twenties and I didn't have a clue what was going on and I ended up I had to go into therapy myself

because I wasn't functioning at all and what I learned in therapy absolutely changed my life.

My life was different the same after that and and as a result of that I wanted to go on and

help other people too and even at that time I would have been doing my stand-up comedy and that

naturally evolved into what I call mental health comedy. So yeah, it's all kind of from lived

experience and honestly I truly believed that unless you've been through depression or anxiety

you can't actually know what it feels like. And the poetry writing the poetry also as you

mentioned in stand-up comedy as well, how did all of that help you process what you were going

through at the time? Do you know what in all day I mean it's funny you often hear about comedians

being naturally depressed and I suppose for some people everybody has to own story but I know

for me from a very young age, humor really got me through and making people laugh and having a

good time so I wouldn't have realized that before but it absolutely got me through and I think

what a poetry well like I've been writing poetry since I was about seven years of age but what

what I didn't realize I realized that no is that's the same as journaling so where people to help

their own mental health they might do journaling where they basically write a thought style

without editing anything and just getting that stuff out I was doing that through poetry and

of course I never thought of wanting I would actually publish these poems but that's kind of

part of the stigma and unfortunately just a lot of shame around talking about how we really feel

and I think it's important to challenge that and to be able to feel how we really feel.

Yeah even more so because suicide remains a leading cause of death among young people in Ireland

doing what you're doing and other speaking about their experiences is important I guess

she in terms of opening up the conversation bringing it out into the open and ensuring that there

is no stigma attached to it because it is something more people sadly than we would like to think

go through. Absolutely I mean it's funny Alan when I look back in my life especially in my 20s

when I was suicidal and I was planning to end my life and if I would have been successful with that

at that time that people I would have been that stereotypical person of but she was alive and

soul of the party and that's the thing you know it's challenging as kind of why people

are afraid to feel how they really feel or to shoulder vulnerability and sometimes people are

afraid that they're going to be talked down so what if you got to be depressed about

I think it's well as sad one of the things I'm really proud of with this book is coming from a

place of understanding so to give an example of this my lovely dad passed away last July god bless him

but one of the poems I actually wrote on the morning of his funeral just to read you a few lines

from that poem and basically it goes and but behind closed doors I am a man full of fear

who was not taught how to show his emotions throughout his years and another part of the poem

it reads I am the product of rules and expectations who finds it hard to change whichever new generation

and I find myself Alan working as a counselor that people can feel that's very personal that

family members are having to go whereas actually it's about understanding what people are coming from

what they've been through my dad was never allowed to show his emotions when he was a young boy

he lost his dad when he was very young that wouldn't be done at that time well as we know Alan

that over time these emotions they they build up inside somebody and what happens is they

implode sometimes they explode but sometimes they implode and that's why somebody can end up taking

your life and you're taking that doesn't make any sense when it could be years of battling stuff up

I think it's going to be important for people to read your book and get their hands on it the

launches on the 4th of April can you tell us more about where it's happening when and you know

what your hopes are for us and you know what I want these people I just kind of if I feel

something is worth doing on tour and then I kind of put it out there and hope that it helps at

least one person so that's kind of my thinking behind that it's actually going to be in the UK so

if people want to travel over to the UK because I'm based here and new in this field so that's why

I'm going to have to large on Saturday week but if people want to get hold of a copy of my book it

is on my website that's mind management for you.com or the gigation on Amazon so look if you kind of

record this and put this on the clear from website I'll give you the links if people take

my benefit for my book brilliant stuff and just finally you know what message would you most

like people to take away from your story but your work as well is it the the overriding message

just it it's good to talk it's there's there should be no stigma attached to you know if you've

been dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts. Yeah I take a step into the case of hanging

in there because like the thing is that when I was going to episode to depression you just think

it's never going to end and I just think it's the message of hope because my life is

completed different though I love what I do forks and when it's well as that I'm actually on a not

a not a not Alan as sporting moments 1995 the all Ireland and Harling final I watched clear win

the all Ireland Harling final in Crow Park. Well I tell you what that was to be one hell of an

occasion obviously ending in 81 year famine so Sheila that's a great sporting memory tying

nicely into our question for our competition today so thanks for that brilliant segue and

thanks for joining us this morning really appreciate it. Yeah thank you Alan as always. Thank

you very much that's the mental health counselor there Sheila I'm a man with us on morning focus