Introduction
Problems can not be solved unless they are identified, acknowledged, and understood. This section is for raising awareness about concerns in different communities. Email us if you'd like an issue highlighted. If possible, please provide evidence as this will speed up our processes: info@mentaldiy.com You might find this section useful if you ever want to talk to a politician.
- Limerick has the highest suicide rate in Ireland.
- People seeking help for addiction often have to be clean before they can access certain support services. If services can send people away this will discourage people from trying to access services in the first place and could cause a sampling bias in statistics.
- Student accomodation can be difficult to access. Idea for partial relief: Introduce more remote working courses with on-campus exams.
- Ireland has some of the highest housing costs with the lowest population density in Europe. Pension funds often have ties to the housing market. This creates a potential conflict of interest. Dereliction is also a problem in many areas. Experts like economist David McWilliams have argued that a tax on dereliction might, in part, help address the issue of derelict sites. Nimbyism (not in my back yard) refers to the behaviour of some people to protest or block development in their area even if such development is important for society e.g., someone might not want more houses in their area as a change in supply and demand might make their property worth less on the market. A lack of housing has negative impacts on the economy and mental health and this is bad for everyone in the long term.
- Fail standards refer to metrics for what counts as a failure, who is responsible in the event of a failure, and what the consequences of failure are. Fail standards should be in place before funding is allocated in certain sectors. However, a lot of individuals and organisations don't want to do this because this would promote transparency and accountability.
- Cows fart. Methane from cow burps and farts can be roughly 28 times more potent that carbon dioxide. This is bad for the environment. FYI: Certain types of seaweed (red seaweed 'Asparagopsis') added to feed can significantly reduce cow farts.
- Some politicians use manipulation tricks. Some stick out their fist to seem assertive. Interupting others is about disrupting audience attention to impair memory formation. Going off topic and waffling is designed to wear down people's attention span so they'll disengage from logic and be more influenced by emotional arguments later. A false tone of confidence is made to fool people. Politicians are aware that people often don't have time or the relevant skillset to research every topic or statement they engage in.
- Mental health services are often underfunded. There are often 'invisible' costs associated with not supporting mental health. These are sometimes not fully considered when developing budgets. Depending on the given mental health topic, this can includes reduced employment levels, healthcare costs, justice system costs, education costs, and more.
- There's a lack of awareness in some communities about the effects of certain drugs. Cocaine for example can lower your ability to recognise negative emotions in others and cause cardiovascular problems contributing to issues like erectile dysfunction. Products on the black market are often spiked with dirt to add weight or other harmful substances.
- A criminal approach is sometimes used by governments to deal with drugs. Countries that take a healthcare approach get better results in every category. Drug rates go down, the value of drugs on the black market go down undermining criminal business, death rates go down, pressure on law enforcement is reduced, people are more likely to seek help without fear of prosecution or stigma, community healthcare and wellbeing increases, etc. The group that benefits most from a criminal approach are drug dealers. To avoid prosecution of harsh sentences, instead of dealing directly themselves, they will often recruit scapecoats to do transactions on their behalf. This includes people with disabilities, people with addiction problems, or underage people who can not be prosecuted as adults. This is not a comment on moral idealism (some people believe laws should be harsh as a matter of principle because drugs are bad vs those who argue for compassion and rehabilitation); this is about moral pragmatism (what works best in practise as supported by research across countries).
- People don't always have awareness of local services that may be available to them. It might be a good idea for councils to put up public maps showing the nearest support services, opening hours, and contact details. This might be particularly useful in suicide hot spots.If there's space it might also be a good idea to add a picture of the relevant building with an arrow image pointing to entrances to help people visualise and make plans.
- Efficiency is sometimes punished. If certain groups don't use up all their budget in a given year then they may not be able to apply for the same budget next year. This issue discourages collaboration and co-ordination between groups, especially those that may compete for funding.