Welcome at the Conference 'GROWing into recovery: a re-enchantment with life'
School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College
11:00, Friday, 11 January 2013
President Higgins, Mrs Higgins,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
You are most welcome to the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and to what will surely be one of most important conferences held in Trinity this year.
We are, all of us, only too aware, from recent tragic headlines, of the burden of mental illness carried by so many people, of all ages, all around this country. It’s not unique to Ireland. The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2020 depression will be the one of the most important causes of disability in the world. I believe the World Health Organisation alerted us to this danger at least a decade ago. Governments are now beginning to take action, and are seeking transformations in the way we deal with the intrinsically human and costly problem of mental illness.
This conference takes place within that framework of seeking transformation. As is evident from the title, the emphasis is on recovery and return to full health. The organisers of this conference take the positive view that mental illness is not necessarily a lifelong disease requiring continuous medication, but can be a temporary response to particular stresses, a condition from which people can emerge if given the right help, including help from the community.
Today we will hear three papers presenting evidence for the ‘recovery model’, and suggesting ways to treat mental illness going beyond reliance on medication. Afterwards we will hear a panel discussion, chaired by the broadcaster Vincent Browne, and including Dr Julie Repper from Nottingham Healthcare Trust, Dr Patrick Devitt from the Mental Health Commission, Dr Eddie Molloy who is chairman of the Irish Mental Health Reform, and Dr Mike Watts, one of today’s speakers, who has recently completed his PhD here in Trinity under the supervision of Professor Agnes Higgins and has thirty years’ experience with GROW, the co-hosts of today’s conference.
The strength and diversity of the panel and speakers; the calibre and professionalism of you, the invited audience, who come from the HSE, the Department of Health, NGOs, and the higher education sector; and the attendance of our President, Michael D. Higgins – all this testifies to the great importance of the issues under discussion today.
There is controversy around the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness – as there is around all illness, of course, but particularly perhaps mental illness, which remains a relatively new area of study and research, compared to other fields of medicine. The diversity and the high standing of the panel and audience here today shows, I think, the willingness and flexibility of all involved to get to the heart of causes and cures, without prejudice or assumptions.
I congratulate GROW and Trinity’s School of Nursing and Midwifery for organising this conference, for presenting new empirical evidence, and for helping widen the public debate on this crucial issue. I thank the sponsors, the Mental Health Commission, for their support.
It is now my pleasure to invite President Michael D. Higgins to open this conference. This is not the first time I’ve had the honour of welcoming the President to Trinity - as an academic himself, he is a great supporter of the research we do here, especially research which looks to ameliorate society and to explore the human condition. As a poet he has a particularly sensitive understanding of mental pain. In his inaugural speech as President, he called for “a society which is profoundly ethical and inclusive”. “Our strength,” he said “lies in our common weal – our social solidarity”.
Social solidarity and inclusive community is very much the message of GROW. It is their preferred treatment for mental illness. We are honoured that President Higgins, who has given such thought to this whole area, can be with us today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Uachtaráin na hÉireann, Micheal D. Higgins
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