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Youth Mental Health shutterstock

Isolation and the lack of opportunities impacts on young peoples’ mental health in Donegal

The Jigsaw programme in Donegal has seen 230 young people avail of its service in just one year.

DONEGAL HAS THE lowest rate of expendable income and the highest rate of male unemployment in the country. The geography of the county alone can make it a very isolating place, which is something that can impact heavily on the mental health of young people.

Jigsaw projects across Ireland work with communities to better support young people’s mental health and well being. Developed and supported by Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health and the HSE, one such Jigsaw facility was opened last year in Letterkenny, Donegal.

The opening of the project was three years in the making, after community groups voiced a need for supports for the young people of Donegal.

Free service

In just over one year, the programme has seen over 230 young people avail of the free service, something Sean McGrory, the project manager says is testament to how badly it was needed in the county.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Mr McGrory said the project has three aims. They want to give one to one support to young people if they want help, they want to train people who are in contact with young people on a daily basis, such as teachers and youth workers, on how to be aware about youth mental health issues and to educate the broader public also.

He said:

We are a rural county in an isolated location and that has a huge impact on young people, socially.

The population of the county is scattered and this alone can have an impact on how young people interact and engage with each other.

He added, however, that the issues young people face in Donegal are the same problems that young people in other parts of the country face. “They have the same problems, feel the same pressure and we are not saying that they are any more worse off than others, but the access to supports can be limited here,” he said.

Young people in Donegal

He added that there are a number of factors in Donegal that can have an impact on young people. “In terms of deprivation, Donegal is always pretty much bottom of the list, we have the highest rate of male unemployment in the country, the lowest rate of expendable income, so while the Celtic Tiger may have had some benefits to people, it did not reach us as much,” he said.

Mr McGrory added:

With such a high level of unemployment in the county, this has can cause a lot of distress to families and to teenagers who see their parents struggle.

Not only that, but young people who are just leaving school or college, the lack of opportunities and jobs is something that we see as a big problem.

The Jigsaw project is open to people aged between 15 – 25 years old, which Mr McGrory said shows the huge spectrum of youth mental issues in the area.

Low mood

“People who use the service range from users with common problems, such as low mood, stress and worry to people presenting with early mental health issues, which we try and treat with early prevention. We would see a significant amount of people self-harming, but also a lot of young people who have either left college or school or have lost jobs and are just very disillusioned about their future,” he said.

He said that as a county, Donegal is very loyal, stating that majority of the people do not want to leave, but they feel they have no choice. “It’s common to have ‘wakes’ in the small towns when 8 or 10 young people are leaving to go to Australia,” he said, adding that it is a great loss to the community and can be felt.

The Jigsaw project does not require a doctor’s referral, meaning young people can simply walk in off the street and say they want to talk to someone.

My World Survey of 14,000 children found that they were dealing with issues and not asking for help. Often times, young people don’t want to visit the family doctor they have known since they were a baby. Jigsaw offers them a place to visit, where they don’t have to worry about being dismissed,” he said.

Jigsaw in Donegal is located in Letterkenny, though, Mr McGrory said they were aware of rural isolation in the county. They have three outreach centres which are manned one day a week, in Buncrana, Killybegs and Gweedore.

“Establishing a youth mental health service like this hasn’t been without its challenges, but we hope it’s making a difference and helping young people in the county,” said Mr McGrory.

Read: New Donegal centre hopes to tackle mental health issues and rural isolation>

Read: “Arrogant” Phil Hogan’s visit to be greeted with protest by Letterkenny councillors>

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37 Comments
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    Mute Shane Morris
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 10:44 PM

    If only the Brits managed to get China to agree to some kind of guarantee in 1997…say a backstop, just in case China ever reneged on an international treaty…despite all the reassurances.

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    Mute wattsed56
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    Jul 4th 2019, 9:00 AM

    @Shane Morris: Perhaps read the last paragraph of the article.

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    Mute Mushy Peas
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    Jul 4th 2019, 9:40 AM

    @wattsed56: you missed his point entirely.

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    Mute Fergus Murphy
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 10:32 PM

    Maybe the Brits can solve all of this with existing technology

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 11:03 PM

    China is going to do what China is going to do and there is nothing the British can do about. The Chinese have little to fear from anybody in either military or economical sanctions, they have become a massive world power that puts all other countries but the US into a lower league, Britain better get used to the fact they are no longer at the big boys table.

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    Mute Liam O hAodha
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 11:42 PM

    The Brits really have made a balls of everywhere they occupied & put borders in, Ireland, China, Palestine, India/Pakistan, North Africa, Middle East, Argentina/Malvinas islands, actually everywhere they caused problems

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    Mute John Smith
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    Jul 4th 2019, 8:59 AM

    @Liam O hAodha: Well funny enough if you don’t put up borders then you don’t get countries . You are a nationalists . You do believe in dividing up big countries into small countries do you not .

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    Mute Sean Oige
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 10:32 PM

    Suits China to wipe out hk financial sector and allow Shanghai to become the financial sector in the region. Will be interesting to see large corporates response if that happens…

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    Mute Thomas Devlin
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 10:51 PM

    Send in the gunboats,how dare those foreign chappies threaten our great British empire

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    Mute Murf
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    Jul 4th 2019, 1:41 AM

    @Thomas Devlin: you f€&@“g idiot

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    Mute Cal Mooney
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 11:11 PM

    You really have to wonder what the english are up to? Do they really think they can influence China. They definitely are not going to be influencing the EU from here on out. They long for their former colonial days and the sickening experience that every occupied nation suffered. Maybe China should invade england and bring true freedom to its people by getting rid of the current regime installed there. And release Julian Assange while they are at it. If only.

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    Mute John Smith
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    Jul 4th 2019, 10:32 AM

    @Cal Mooney: How dare Britain stand for the rights of the people of Hong Kong .

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    Mute Ben Jamen
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 11:44 PM

    Great bunch of lads though…

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    Mute Angry_Man41
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    Jul 3rd 2019, 11:02 PM

    China, conform!

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    Mute kushal kumar
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    Jul 4th 2019, 5:41 AM

    News reports in the month of June 2019 say that Hong Kong is these days upset with the government. The city’s pro- Beijing leaders are reportedly pushing a bill through legislation that would allow extradition to any with which it already does not already have a treaty – including mainland China for the first time. Huge protesting crowds gathered Hong Kong on 9 June as anger rose over the proposed bill. The protesters also assembled in large number on 1 July 2019 , the anniversary day of Hongkong becoming part of China , turned violent and marched to the Parliament. In this context , it is apt to refer readers to this Vedic astrology writer’s predictive alerts for more care and appropriate strategy in article – “ world trends in April to August 2019” – brought to public domain widely in the month of March and subsequently on 5 April in present year 2019. The alert had said that during a period of four and a half months from mid- April to August , particularly June in 2019 , China may take more care and appropriate strategy in relation to sort of protests among some Unions or associations or federation within the country. The related text in the article reads like this :-
    “ 4. Unions , federations , groups or associations within the country may show signs of divergence in more than one sphere of life. In other words , the spirit of unity in them may be short of being ideal”. It seems the alert has been precisely meaningful.
    Note : – This writer’s other significant time-tested predictive work in relation to the U.S. so far can be found at wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/4897/ and wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/5060/. Separately and in addition , this writer has alerted already on 22 June , 2019 that more care and appropriate strategy may be called for during a period of fortnight from 25 September to 9 October , particularly on 28 -29 September , in the present year 2019 against likely War or WW3 -like scenario , massive earthquakes , storms-tornadoes-cyclones , floods, landslide , road-rail-air safety concerns , economic and financial major worrisome concerns , health woes related to stomach-head-brain , human malice at its height in operation and the like. Vulnerability of a country or region appears to be main determining factor. Having said that , it may be made clear that human more care and appropriate strategy has weight over planetary trend generating impacts.

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    Mute Donal O'Carroll
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    Jul 4th 2019, 6:07 AM

    @kushal kumar: and your point is …?

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jul 4th 2019, 8:11 AM

    @kushal kumar: ✋

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    Mute Sean Buckley
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    Jul 4th 2019, 9:16 AM

    @kushal kumar: Will Galway bate Mayo!

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