Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services

Mr. Martin Rogan:

This is a really important point. An earlier question referred to dual diagnosis. Often when people are in difficulty and they do not recognise a range of different supports that are helpful and constructive in their lives, people are inclined to resort to old familiars. Especially in the Irish context, alcohol is a huge issue. We have seen Central Statistics Office, CSO, data on this. Even though pubs were closed, consumption of alcohol in the home, often at dangerous levels, has been a feature. It is something we need to be very mindful of. We are also seeing people moving towards prescription drugs. We spoke earlier about the importance of primary care, but it is important it has a whole range of tools and not just a prescription pad. We know, for example, that 10% of the Irish population are on antidepressants.

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