Bressie to host free mental health event in Leitrim

Leitrim’s Health is Wealth returns for its eighth year with a live recording of the award-winning Where Is My Mind? podcast, hosted by Bressie. The event is free and open to the public.

“We started this really to raise awareness and to help destigmatise mental health,” said Hubert McHugh, who co-founded the event with Valerie Cogan in 2017.

This year’s event, taking place at 8 p.m. on May 3rd at the Landmark, promises a blend of music, raw storytelling, and honest conversation around mental health.

“He's speaking out about mental health problems and normalising that it’s okay to feel anxious,” McHugh said of Bressie. “We thought that was very important. We always want to get the message across that it's okay not to feel okay, and that it's okay to look for help.”

McHugh, who has worked as a mental health nurse in Leitrim for over 40 years, has seen a significant shift in how mental health is discussed and treated.

“When I started in the 80s, there was a terrible stigma around mental health, and that definitely is improving,” he said.

Past Health is Wealth events have featured figures like Mary McEvoy, Charlie McGettigan, and Oisín McConville, who shared their own experiences with mental health. Events like these, McHugh believes, play a key role in helping people find the words to talk about their own struggles.

“Sometimes people can have thoughts in their heads or they get strange feelings and think, ‘No, I couldn’t tell anybody, it sounds awful weird.’ And yet, when you hear somebody speaking about their problems—someone prominent—it gives that person the language to go to their GP and articulate it. They're not afraid to say it anymore.”

The upcoming podcast recording will feature host Bressie, Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan, and Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Catherine Dolan.

Accessibility has always been a priority for the organisers, with the event remaining free from the beginning. “We want to aim it at the ordinary man or woman on the street so that they can come and go to the event,” said McHugh.

In his time working in the mental health field in Leitrim, McHugh said the problems people face have shifted somewhat, with loneliness and drug addiction becoming more prominent in rural Ireland. However, the first step out of a dark place remains the same—talking about it.

Providing clear information about mental health and how to get help is vital for suicide prevention, he stressed.

“If you’re feeling depressed or suicidal, please go in to your GP and get referred to the services.”

McHugh would like to see a national campaign around suicide prevention on the same scale as road safety awareness.

“I think we need to get a forum going that will do the very same thing to prevent suicides, because families, communities, and all that are devastated when there’s a suicide in their area.”

He also highlighted the need for more mental health services in areas like Leitrim, which he believes would benefit from greater access to addiction support and step-down services.

Support services can be found here.

READ MORE: Minister responds to Leitrim forestry concerns