Easter

Easter is known as a spiritual time of year

Celebrations round the World without fear

Its a sacred time we can heal our pain

Praying for peace and let go of strain

Sometimes the World can be a dark place

Easter represents love and amazing Grace

Children indulge in chocolate with sheer delight

You can look to the stars and feel bright

Its also a happy time people find it funny

The World is aglow with the story of the Easter bunny

By Patrick C.

U n i t 1 , 2 P a r k e r H i l l , L o w e r R a t h m i n e s R o a d , R a t h m i n e s , D 6

Newsletter

April 2013

Interested in Fishing? A Fishing group is starting up. It will be run in Gateway initially so members can get familiar with the gear. Please let Tom or Ali know so we have an idea of interest and can get this off the ground.

Thank you! Since I have come to Gateway I have enjoyed it very much. The people are understanding and very nice. I thank Mary and Martha for accepting me. Today being the first time it was enjoyable to take part. -John L

We Need your Articles! Welcome to the April edition of your newsletter. This newsletter is run by a small team of people who meet every Thursday in the drop-in centre. We welcome new people to the team, but if you want to contribute, you don’t need to commit to weekly meetings. It is our aim to have all our articles written by Gateway members. We are trying to shine a light on mental health and reduce mental health prejudice for good. But you can write about anything that interests you—it will probably interest someone else too! There will be a drop box set up in Gateway, you can post to the above address and you can use a different name if you want your identity to be kept confidential. You can also email us at our new address—thegatewaynewsletter@gmail.com – The Editors.

Hats off

Let us all stand, take our hats off, and congratulate our very own Martha Griffin for winning the 2012 Dotmocracy Award for her unique and special way of using Dotmocracy.

What?

Yes folks, when Martha wanted members to decide what courses they wanted this year, she used a very democratic way of doing it, and used a system called Dotmocracy. And in doing so, has won an award that has put Gateway in the world spot-light of democracy. Just google the word

“Dotmocracy”.

So the next time Barrack Obama, Enda Kenny or even Kim Jon-il want to be fair and govern in a democratic way, they will look to Martha Griffin and us in Gateway for guidance in how to conduct their affairs.

Well done to Martha. -Ciarán

Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.

Pysanka is a specific term used for the practice of Easter egg painting.

Each year we eat nearly 90 million chocolate bunnies.

When it comes to eating of chocolate bunnies, the ears are preferred to be eaten first by as many as 76% of people.

Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, which happens on, or after March 21, the Spring Equinox.

The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.

The first Easter baskets were made to look like bird's

Care & Repair: Free repair service in Dublin 4, 6 & 12 to people 65+ years of age. Small repair jobs call 01-4059819

Counselling ‘My Mind’ My Mind in Ranelagh are still offering discounted counselling services. Vouchers are still available to Gateway members. The cost is €10 per session for 5 sessions. For more information contact Mary Barnes on 01-4965558.

Peer Support

For me personally when I first came into contact with Gateway the stigma was a factor in becoming a more active member. I was generally demoralised and had given up getting any sort of needed support. I would have a tendency to distance myself when my health is not good but this would distance me further.

“My mood picks up”

I am now very settled within Gateway and know most of the members. Sometimes I have found on my way there the pattern of negative thinking can overwhelm me, but once I am socialising with other members my mind settles into the now and my mood picks up with it. Why does this happen? I believe there are a few unwritten rules amongst members in Gateway, the first one being a complete understanding of the challenges that face someone with a mental health difficulty.

As all members know it is not just low mood and sadness that affects someone suffering from poor mental health they can also have very high mood, hyperactivity, grandiosity, fast speech, poor judgement and many more. While my experience has been mainly of depression, my mental health is generally made worse by those who have no understanding of it. I have always been an extroverted person and could mix easily. But when my mental health is not so good I still feel the need to be an extrovert and this can often backfire as I can be a handful.

“The value of support”

Most members will recognise this type of behaviour and overlook it and see it for what it actually is but the real world is less accommodating. Then I am more at ease and will be able to benefit from, in my opinion the best therapy there is available ‘other people’’ and a feeling of shared circumstances strengthens this feeling. This is why I believe Gateway provides an invaluable

service a place to provide peer support. Though I believe most members overlook the value of the

support provided to one another. -Thanks, Tom

A Game of Billiards

A member of Gateway (Nicholas) and myself had a game of Billiards in Goodfellows in Rathmines a while ago. It was most enjoyable and Nicholas won by 40 points to 34. Billiards is a game played on the big table with 3 balls. Your opponents ball and your own and a red. Scoring consists of potting the red or going in off same 3 points potting your opponents ball or going in off same 3 points potting your opponents ball or going in off 2 points. You can also get a score by hitting your opponents ball and the red called a canon 2 points. As I said it was most enjoyable and we are planning a return game in Terenure. -Terry D

My Story on Confidence I got a book from the library in Rathmines called ‘Boost Your Confidence’ by Melanie Fennell. This book has helped me because my confidence was holding me back. I was afraid to speak in case I would say the wrong thing in case it would sound stupid or silly and people would put me down. I only got my confidence a while ago with the help of these books and a very dear and a very special friend.

Self Help

When I go to the library I just go straight to the self help section. I know the books to

look for 158. I also read another self help book that tells me that when you talk to somebody you make eye contact and listen to what the other person is saying. Eye contact is important because it means you understand what the other person is saying and you can answer them back. I use to look at the floor as I was too scared to make eye contact as my confidence was very low but gradually I’m gaining confidence.

I hope this helps somebody like it has helped me. It’s changed my life and there are books out there to help you. I have discovered this and I will keep reading these books. I am so much happier now and I

am very grateful I have found these books. -Mary Q.

Wednesday Meet-Ups

1 o’clock in Toast are still on, check with Oliver D for details

Pot Black Tim They say to win it once is a secret ambition of every Pool player in

Gateway, but to win it twice is a feat not seen since the good old days of Hurricane Higgins, Steve Davis or Chris Andrews. And we who were there to witness this great achievement of Tim’s were left with no doubt that we were watching a true genius at work.

I could give you a shot by shot account of yet another thrilling

final, that went down to the black ball again, but instead I am going to write about this Colossus of a man, Tim.

Who is this man, I hear you ask.

Tim was born of parents who think a Pool cue is something that forms outside a swimming pool complex on a summer’s day. Tim shocked the world when he said to his parents that he was giving up his job and going to concentrate on his Pool playing.

And what can we say?

We are all flabbergasted at the transmogrification that has taken place with Tim. From what some might say a lowly ranking 2,3498 in

the world ranking of Pool players, Tim has taken centre stage at last. Recognition for his effort has not gone un-noticed. As well as the millions of Euros that Tim will pick up in vast corporate sponsorship from this wonderful achievement, he will be forever known as the man who won 2 Gateway Pool competitions in a row.

And I know one or two Pool players, who would very easily swap their mother, father, jewellery, false-teeth, or anything of value, just to win it once. So well done Tim, and hearty congratulations to your new found success in the world of Gateway Pool.

Random Notes Radio Show by Richard Moloney every Second Wednesday between 9pm – 10.30pm on Near

90.3fm and online at www.near.ie/livestream

Plain English In March, Claire from NALA (National Adult Literacy Agency) came to give the team some training in how to use plain English in the newsletter. Plain English is a way to write and present information so a reader can understand it after a single reading.

What we learned

Claire taught us how important it is to use personal language like 'we' and 'you' so that what we want to say is clear to you, the reader.

We also talked about the importance of using clear fonts (types of print) so that people can read the newsletter without any difficulty.

We learned that a useful way of making an article easy to read is to use shorter paragraphs, and to break them up using headings and lists when possible.

We have tried to use the lessons we learned in this month's newsletter, and we would welcome your feedback on how we have done. The idea of using plain English made a lot of sense to me. I would encourage you to ask for plain English to be used whenever you find an organisation using confusing language or unexplained terms.

NALA has a website dedicated to all things plain English. You can visit it at www.simplyput.ie -Ali

Relaxation & Meditation

continues on Mondays in April from 3.45-4.45pm!

Indian Head Massage

is on the last Monday every Month from 1.45pm

There is a public meeting on Mental Health Services on Wednesday the 10th April from 2:00 to 4:30pm in the Carmelite Centre on Aungier Street.

Mental Health Reform wants to hear from anyone with an interest in mental health. Come along!

11 Wynnfield Road

Rathmines Dublin 6 01 4 96 55 58 w ww .p ro je c t ga te wa y . b l ogs po t . c om

The views expressed or otherwise stated in this Newsletter are the views of the

contributors and not necessarily the views of the Gateway Project.

A Personal

Story

I have experience of

depression for close

on forty years. This

is not something to

put on a C.V. or for any

prospective employer to

read. It comes in waves, it

creeps up silently and

gradually and before you

know it you are drowning

in despair and sadness and

inadequacy. Brushing your

teeth can be as equal a

challenge sometimes as to

climbing Mount Everest!

Blood, sweat and tears

I've seen friends and

acquaintances be

successful in work, get

married and start families

seemingly effortlessly

while I every morning

struggle to figure out just

what to wear!

Miraculously I got through

College and got an

honours degree in

engineering of all things.

The blood sweat and tears

that went into that of

cramming for exams was

mind shattering as I knew

well by then I was battling

a mental illness at the

same time. I had one

friend and I think she

knew....

Sitting on the Dock

Then suddenly when I

would hear the songs on

the radio sitting on the

dock of the bay watching

the tide ebb away, sitting

on the dock of the bay

wasting time it would

literally spin me around

and make me joyful and

the weight of the world

and my anxieties would

disappear momentarily.

Songs like Bryan Adams

"Summer of 69" - “we

were young and restless

and needed to unwind”

and Bruce Springsteen’s

'The River' "we'd go down

to the river and into the

river we'd dive..." They all

kind of uplifted my mood

and were the back tracks

to my anxiety filled years

in College.

A World of my Own

While my peers were

developing social skills

and prowess I was literally

in a little world of my

own. I found College hard.

I hear people nowadays

say it was the same for

everyone, and I have to

raise an eyebrow. College

for most people is a riot

and fun!

My experience of

hospitalization was

harrowing the first few

times, I thought it was

prison and I would never

get out. I moved to Dublin

the Summer of '95 in

search of work and instead

I found love with an

Italian guy. When he left I

felt devastated and

traumatised, didn't sleep

for weeks and was

eventually picked up by

the police for a public

order offence. I was totally

out of it. I thought the

mafia were after me. I

calmed down and was

placed in a hostel where I

got all my meals and had a

bit of structure to my days.

I was still delusional and

went to the trouble of

doing an Italian course.

My Psychiatrist at the time

told me to stick to the Irish

guys. I knew more what I

was dealing with.

I kept defaulting on the

medication once

discharged only to be

readmitted every six

months, really although it

was making me feel

calmer, I didn’t feel

myself.

Friendship Works Best

Relationships! I've come

to the conclusion that

friendship works best for

me. I've had a few little

relationships don't get me

wrong, I am not a total

prude, they generally start

off well and somehow get

a bit intense and mostly

end disastrously with

tears. I have stopped the

screaming matches (not

lady-like!). I am learning

to act more maturely with

the opposite sex.

For me Gateway is

literally that, I can be

myself, everyone is

friendly and accepting if

you are having a slightly

under the weather day.

Like the other day I had

just broken up with a guy I

was in hospital with last

Summer and Sharon and

John cheered me up

tremendously and made

me laugh. Another one

bites the dust as they say!

And I thank God that my

anxiety is at a controllable

and manageable level

nowadays.

-Annemarie M.

What do you like about being a member in Gateway? It breaks the isolation

When you were younger what did you want to be when you grew up? Rich

Where is your favourite place in the world? Coggee Beach in Sydney

One thing no one knows about you? My name means free spirit

Get to know your member!

D I A

R M A I D