Category Archives: Suicide

Articles on Suicide

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Essential services and coronavirus/COVID 19

Under the current guidelines, counselling and psychotherapy are considered essential services.
“ Counsellors or psychotherapists can be considered part of Social Care, which is an essential service (for essential cases). As long as Government and NPHET protocols and guidance on social distancing are followed, it is up to the individual counsellor’s/psychotherapist’s own judgement as to whether to meet clients face-to-face or through remote means.”
Feel free to contact me on 0877097477 as I am happy to continue to meet with and support my clients during this difficult time.

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Living with COVID 19/Corona…. Self Care in a time of chaos.

Hands up who is totally sick of the phrase “The New Normal”? Who feels like they’re slowly loosing it? Well, thankfully you’re not alone. What on Earth is normal about any of this?

Daily, I hear how frustrated people are that they are supposed to accept and just assimilate into this strange and totally counterintuitive ‘new way of living’ They feel they cannot complain about their worries or loneliness, because “we’re all in this together”and it feels selfish. But, most of us, need more than clever slogans to manage and to cope during this strange and, frankly, bonkers, time.
The solutions seem to all recommend “Self Care”, so what is it and how do we become masters at self caring?

A lot of advertising and social media have hijacked the notion and are recommending that we “Eat the Cake, Buy the Shoes, Live your Best Life”… to be clear, Self Care has nothing to do with self indulgence.

Instead, self care is about pausing to really ask yourself what I really need in the moment. That’s not the same as what I really want. If I really need an early night, is binge watching because I feel like it, self care? If I really need to get exercise, is avoiding it because I don’t want to, really looking after myself…

Self care requires discipline, and self control. It asks you to treat yourself like you might a small child who doesn’t know better; to take care of ourselves with a firm and gentle hand.
It’s aim is to treat you like you deserve to be treated, with love, compassion, forgiveness and patience.
This is sometimes the hardest thing to do for ourselves. But let’s face it, when will we need it more than in these times of chaos!

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Limerick Leader2 Facebook Sex Scam

Thanks to Donal O’Regan for drawing attention to the plight of men who have been targeted by a Facebook  Sex Scam and for highlighting the hidden dangers of the impact this blackmail could have. 

The “set up” itself is an old one; attractive woman lures unsuspecting man into a compromising position and blackmails him with the evidence of his indiscretion. Aside from the threat of humiliation and shame, the possible repercussions for the men regarding social standing or employmentare far and wide. 
And on top of this these men have been abused by a person they believed to be an intimate partner. Sharing intimate, private images is becomming more commonplace and is being covered well in the media right now, however this time there is another level added: blackmail. 

As surely as a the threat of physical violence, black mail is a threat to destroy, ruin and expose.
If you have been effected by this scam or have been exposed to image sharing and would like to talk to someone about the effect this has had, please feel free to call me on 087 7097477 or to contact me in confidence at midwestcounselling@gmail.com.

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Exam Results

I have a bone to pick with exams.
Perhaps ( or probably!) it’s because of personal experience but I can’t say I’m happy with the leaving cert in particular. It’s gotten far to much credit for my liking.
Your whole life, apparently, depends on this one exam. This will dictate who you become in life. The money you make, the house you live in, all of this is dependant on this one set of results.

Well, frankly, that’s not true. Anyone who says it is, is wrong.

Added unnecessary stress, pressure and competition is the very last thing anyone needs while they are trying to make important decisions. Even those who should know better can be guilty of heaping on the stress at the worst time possible.

These are just exam results. Good or bad they are no reflection of who you are as a person, of your intellectual capability, or what you’re going to accomplish in life.

If you want to talk about exams or plans or college or just what’s on your mind, call me on 087 7097477 for an appointment.

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Robin Williams

If the tragic loss of Robin Williams shows us anything, it shows us just how pervasive depression is. His apparent suicide is testimony to the fact that depression honours no boundaries, and holds no lines. Any and everyone of us can experience depression at any time. 

 

Ask for help. Listen to those who are asking for help.  

Every day People can and do survive the blackest and most hopeless of depressions and come out the far side. It does get better. 

 

Call on 087 7097477 for an appointment or if you think you may be in danger of harming yourself call the Samaritans on116 123