Sir, - How refreshing to read Dr John Owens's remarks on mental illness. His comments on the necessity to deal with poor psychiatric health holistically, the shame and stigma still attached to these illnesses and the dire need to develop psychiatric services in this country are all well grounded.
It is therefore with regret that I feel bound to take him to task on the frankly insulting manner in which he brought his letter to a close. "People with psychiatric problems are, for many reasons, inhibited in calling for quality services," asserts the good doctor. I hope this does not accurately reflect Dr Owens's view.
The prospect of the representative of the Irish Psychiatric Association failing to recognise the possibility of people with mental health problems being able to speak for themselves is frightening.
I am mentally ill and over the past year have experienced first-hand the reality of in- and out-patient psychiatric care. I agree with Dr Owens that there is an urgent need to improve these services. The nurses and doctors perform superbly, but the system does not enable them to achieve the best possible results.
Psychiatric hospitals are often still used as society's dumping ground, rather than places of healing.
Dr Owens's final paragraph really drives me insane. "It is necessary for the public to take up the fight on their behalf" (that of people with mental illness). Let me state clearly that I do not need anyone to speak on my behalf. Nor do many other people with psychiatric problems.
About one in eight people suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives. I call on the public not to speak on our behalf but to join us and stand side by side with mentally ill people as we call for the very highest standards in psychiatric care in Ireland. You never know when you might need it. - Yours, etc.,
Kevin McPartlan, Ballybeg Middle, Co Cork.