Ms Margaret Brennan:

The first thing that went well was that on his initial diagnosis of depression he was seen after two days. That is not the norm any more. That is one thing that worked well. The primary thing to understand is that we do not have enough of a team. We do not have any other therapy. One cannot cure depression or alleviate its symptoms with medicines alone. It requires a three prong approach - counselling, activity and medication. My child could not get out of bed with the depression he had. No other therapy was offered. There was no counselling, psychology, art therapy or music therapy. There was nothing. We were left holding the can for long periods of time. I am not trained psychiatrically. I had to beg, plead and write: "Please help me. I do not know what I am doing and I need help for my child." I eventually sourced it but it was after many letters and calls to Dr. Niall Muldoon.