This article is from page 12 of the 2013-09-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
IRISH society is in denial about the impact of alcohol, a situation that is making hard to promote a message of positive mental health, a leading mid-west based psychotherapist has warned.
Carmel McMahon says that alcohol has become too engrained in Irish life. She explains, “We have to realise that alcohol is a depressant. It leads to more anxiety and more depression. Yet when we have a stressful event, or a joyful day, like the match on Sunday, what we all need is a few pints or a few glasses of wine. But it’s very hard to tell people that’s the least thing we need at that moment.
“It’s too engrained in our society and when they want to point out it’s not okay to have a drink, that message is very hard to get across. It’s very hard to promote positive mental health when that attitude exists.”
Ms McMahon was speaking at a public discussion on alcohol aware ness, organised by the Labour Party in Clare, on Thursday night.
She said, “We laugh at somebody who got drunk. I can tell you it is no laughing matter if you work with people and you see their lives ruined, very young lives,” she added
Ennis journalist and author Brian O’Connell, who has written about his own problems with alcohol, told the meeting that Ireland’s problematic attitude to drinking is affecting young people.
“I often say that if I’d grown up in Maryland or Massachusetts, a lot of people from the age of 19 or 20 would’ve been coming to me saying, ‘Do you think you need to knock this thing on the head?’ Binge drinking is celebrated in Ireland. In many societies it’s an absolute no-no.”
He added, “I talk in schools a lot but I kind of think it’s a waste of time to go into secondary schools and talk to kids about alcohol. I’ve come to form that view because without talking to their peers, parents and their social group they meet at weekends, I’m not sure its going to make any difference me talking to a group of 14 and 15 year olds. The pressures on them predominantly are to engage dysfunctionally with alcohol.”