May 2013

G a t e w a yG a t e w a yG a t e w a y

Newsletter Unit 1, 2 Park Hill, Rathmines Road, D 6. E-mail : thegatewaynewsletter@gmail.com

My Personal Story By Patrick C.

My story of mental ill health is that I didn’t always have mental health problems. As a lad growing

up I was always good at sports. Soccer is my favourite sport. I’m a huge Liverpool fan.

I dropped out of school quite young, I had no second level education as a young teenager. This affected my self-esteem and then after a while I began drinking and getting into trouble.

“mental health difficulties”

This was the start of me experiencing mental health difficulties. My first hospitalisation was when I was eighteen years of age. I was really suffering from mental ill health problems. At the time I didn’t have an understanding about my condition and how serious the difficulties were. I remained in Psychiatric care for nine years. I stopped drinking when I was twenty four and my mental health started to improve. Two years later, still a patient in the hospital I was crossing the motorway and I was knocked down. They pronounced me dead at the scene. I drifted off into a coma on the way to the hospital and remained in the coma for six weeks. I lost a lot of blood they pumped thirty eight pints of blood into me. I was nine weeks on life support. My left leg was broken in four places, broken pelvis, broken ribs, punctured lung, right foot drop and other injuries . This had a huge affect on my mental health. I was four months in hospital. I done physio-therapy. I wasn’t sure if I would ever recover fully and walk again. I was

two years on crutches and eventually started walking without support.

“very challenging”

I found it very challenging both physically and mentally to recover. After a couple of years I began to start liv-ing my life again. I started doing courses. I went back and done the Junior and Leaving Certificate. I’m doing a college course today and live in my own apartment independently .

“good perception of reality”

Today I have a good perception on reality, my percep-tion is not distorted. I am living my life doing things to keep myself well and not lose touch with reality. I do lots of exercise, including working out in the gym this helps me stay well. I have certain things I do which helps me, including a healthy diet. I know what effect poor mental health have a person. The loneliness and despair they feel. This is my personal story. And I hope someone can learn or identify with it. And if you’re struggling, there is light at the end the tunnel.

Hello

You are very welcome to the May edition of your Gateway newsletter. We hope you read it, and find some-thing of interest to you. The main story this month is by Patrick C, and it tells how he overcame not only poor mental health in his life, but also how he overcame horrific physical injuries as well. It is an amazing story of sheer courage and determination.

We are also celebrating our 1st birthday in Parker Hill, Rathmines, so here’s to many more to come and lets hope we will all be here for the 2nd.

So sit back and enjoy your newsletter, and if you would like write an article, please talk to Ali, Tom, Mary Q, Patrick, AnnMarie, Ciarán, Mary M, Diarmaid or Michelle. We would love to hear from you. -The editors

Peer Listening

Peer listening is an activity that two people can do

together to help each other. You don't need any skills

or training to do it.

How it works

Two people agree to spend some amount of time

talking to each other. The length of time is up you. A

good time for beginners is 2 minutes

each.

Once you agree on the time, decide

who will speak first and set the timer.

The first person speaks while the

second person listens until the time is

up.

The person speaking can talk about anything they

want. This is your time. You might want to talk about

something that's bothering you, or you might just

want to talk about your favourite sport. The key

thing to remember is that this time is yours to speak

about anything you wish.

The only thing the person listening needs to do is

listen, and to keep anything that is said confidential.

You may like to nod to show that you are listening,

but you do not need to offer any advice to the other

person. You are giving them the gift of listening

attentively, and that is a valuable gift.

When the timer goes, set it again and swap roles.

Now the second person speaks while the first person

listens to them attentively.

Benefits

I have found it helpful to be able speak my mind freely

and have another human being hear me

without expecting anything from them.

But I think I find it even better to be able

to give the gift of listening to another

person, and to sometimes see them feel

lighter for being listened to. You can do

peer listening with anyone just once if

you want to. Some people might find

someone they like doing it with and continue having

sessions together for years.

Difficulties

I think that the most difficult part of all this is actually

asking someone to do it with you. I can't imagine

anyone finds this easy! I'm hoping that people will use

the new 'Listening Room' in the drop-in centre to

practise peer listening. If you can think of how to make

it easier for people to do this, please do tell me or one

of the team. We would really welcome any ideas. -Ali

'Music and

Madness'

Ivor Browne’s childhood

playground was a few

acres in Dublin's

Sandycove where all the

youngsters would spend

endless hours in

unfettered play and open

imagination. At the same

time, his father would

declare 'I'm afraid Ivor was

a mistake'. His parents

'mixed' marriage

Protestant/Catholic (his

mother) represented the

primary internal conflict of

his youth. He still lives in

Dublin and at 84 years of

age, is virtually retired

from formal psychiatry.

However, his name still

appears as a practitioner at

the Institute of

Psychosocial medicine

located in Dun Laoghaire.

Sadly, his life partner,

writer and feminist, June

Levine passed away in

October 2008.

He distinguished himself

by holding the posts of

head of Psychiatric

Medicine in UCD and as

the director of

St. Brendan’s Hospital in

Grangegorman. And

according to himself, he

was 'ahead of his time', a

bohemian, and a thorn in

the side of the medical and

political establishment. It

was great to get my hands

on this big book and finally

demystify the man whose

name I had heard mention

so often. The account of

his early years and sunlit

childhood are an absolute

treat.

The title of this biography

comes from the fact that

he wanted to be a jazz

musician, but was forced

to give up the trumpet due

to recurring bouts of life-

threatening tuberculosis.

These virtually solitary

periods of quarantine

during the illness afforded

him ample time to ponder

his own recovery and also

the human condition. For

this reason, he went into

psychiatry. So the book

could equally be

titled....from Music to

Madness...

The ideas contained in this

book are ground-breaking

and of most interest to

anyone connected to the

area of mental health and

well-being. Although his

academic articles have

received a lot of

recognition, his methods

have not, as yet, been

widely adopted.

We can note at this point,

that the site at

Grangegorman is currently

being rebuilt to house a

faculty of the DIT. All that

remains of St Brendan’s

Hospital are perhaps 2

patients and a new day

care clinic named as the

Phoenix Care Centre. This

must have been influenced

by the former directors’

mental health philosophy:

‘What we urgently require

is a new form of asylum, a

therapeutic community

that provides a warm,

loving, human context

within which a person can

grow, develop a healthy

lifestyle, learn to work and

manage themselves. It is

then that the problem of so

-called “psychiatric illness”

ceases to be relevant.’

-Nessa

Tom &

Ali in

Ennis To get the opportunity to become

an official WRAP facilitator was not

one to be missed. W.R.A.P standing

for Wellness Recovery Action Plan

was designed by Mary Ellen

Copeland after she was struggling

with her own mental health

difficulties. It states that you are the

expert on you and through the

workshop you can find ways to help

keep yourself well.

Watershed

Heading off on the train to Ennis was

definitely a watershed for me.

WRAP has changed how I view my

mental health and how I can

manage it. Instead of drifting in the

wind and relying on medication to

patch me up, now with the tools

from WRAP I can look at what I need

to do everyday to stay well. I have

struggled long enough to know all

too well how difficult life is when

not going well so for me following

my daily maintenance plan is a

must.

Nervous at first

I was a little nervous at first as I

knew there would be presentations

on the horizon. I knew where I was

at (about 55% sometimes better

sometimes worse) and the nature of

the learning that there would be no

escaping the dreaded standing up in

front of the group and pretending to

be in a much better place than I am.

However after 31 years of a hard life

I have grown wiser and for the first

presentation I got special treatment

and was allowed to give it from

where I was sitting. It passed off

with excruciating pain. Ali did hers

with ease and delivered it very well

as was to be expected. The second

presentation was a riveting heartfelt

performance. I used the smiling

exercise as an ice breaker and was

generally more relaxed. I gave it on

my 'Triggers' and what my action

plans were.

Settled into the training

The group was about 15 from all

over but mostly from the West of

Ireland. Many in the group thought I

was from Dublin. I could understand

why as I am from the Pale. As the

group got to know one another

more we all settled into the training.

The belief in WRAP was

overwhelming to see many in the

group who had experience of

mental health difficulties or had

family members with self experience

or worked with people who faced

these challenges explain why and

how they wanted to see WRAP used

more often. My folder was in

demand in the group for

photocopying as it was far more

comprehensive than the rest of the

group (thumbs up to Fionn & Ali).

Liam who is the founder of WRAP

Ireland reminded us on the last day

that WRAP is continuous learning

and he is available for any questions

we may have on an ongoing

basis.Back on the train

On the way back on the train I was

tired and my conversation was

bouncing from the book I was trying

to read, to the sun shining, the

trees, how great the train is, what

I’m going to add to my daily

maintenance plan, hair dye etc. etc.

I then realised that I was possibly

wrecking Ali's head she smiled and

said that it was ok as we were nearly

in Dublin! -Tom

Getting to know me with

John L.

What do you like about Gateway?

“I like the interaction between

members”

What did you want to work at in life?

“To be an official at a bank”

Where is your favourite place?

“Rosses Point in county Sligo. The best

golf courses in Ireland are there”

Tell us something about yourself

“I took part in a circus on the high wire”

Random Notes Radio Show

by Richard Moloney every second

Wednesday between 9.00pm –

10.30pm on Near 90.3fm and

online at

www.near.ie/livestream

Relaxation & Meditation

continues on Mondays in

May from 3.45pm-4.45pm!

Indian Head Massage is on

the last Monday every Month

from 1.45pm till 4.45pm

A very trendy coffee bar called

Toast on Lr. Rathmines Road is

where Oliver D and other mem-

bers of Gateway meet every

Wednesday at 1 o’clock.

All are very welcome and thanks

to Oliver for his commitment to

this meet-up.

Patrick takes Patrick takes Patrick takes gold gold gold with the blackwith the blackwith the black

Another fascinating Pool competition took place last month in Parker Hill. Loud gasps of disbelief were heard as Mary M swept into round 2 as she trounced Ciarán. The loudest gasp coming from Ciarán himself, as he realised yet another month would go by before he would get another chance to win this much sought after title.

“big guns fell”

Big names like Joe O’, and Nicholas fell by the wayside early on as well. Ali made a surprise entry into the competition and amazed everyone, including herself by potting a ball. It was the day for the underdog it seemed. There was total shock as the likes of Tom M went crashing out in the first round also. That is till the two Titans remained to treat us all to a thrilling final.

“beads of sweat”

From where I was sitting in the front row I could see tiny beads of sweat break across Patricks brow as Sandra started potting the yellow balls left, right and centre. It looked certain that it was to be Sandra’s day. But Patrick had different ideas. It all came down once again to 1 last single black ball, and Patrick made no mistake. He leaned over the table and in his usual quick and stylish way of playing , potted the black and took the gold. Sandra presented Patrick with his award, shook his hand and, silently under her breath said to him, “See you next month buddy”.

But hey, congratulations to Patrick C. and the well deserved title of being the champ for March goes to you Paddy.

11 Wynnfield Road Dublin 6. Ph. 01-4965558 www.projectgateway.blogspot.com

Views expressed in this newsletter are only views of the contributors and not views of the Gateway Project.

Jokes of the month

Two goldfish swimming in a tank. One

says to the other,

“Do you know how to drive this

thing”?

What did the fish say when he swam

into a wall?

“Dam”.

“Waiter, waiter. There are 2 ears in

my soup”

“What” says the waiter.

The fishing group are meeting Tuesday 4/06/13 at 2.00 pm in Belgrave

Square, Rathmines, D6 to get practice with the gear and organise a trip all

welcome but mini bus spaces are limited to 9!

Fishing group news-flash