Ask for help, people with mental health struggles are always told. Often there is none

Sir, – One of the most repeated messages around mental health in Ireland is: just ask for help.We encourage people to speak up, reach out early and seek support when they are struggling. But we rarely talk about what happens next.Too often, the help simply isn’t there.This is particularly true for mothers seeking perinatal mental health support. Women who are recognising they are vulnerable, proactively asking for help are being met staffing shortages, inaccessible services and closed doors. Some are even being told that the “perinatal mental health service is not accepting applications” – an extraordinary phrase to use when referring to urgent mental healthcare, not a job, grant or course.We cannot continue to measure success by the existence of services alone. Services existing and services being accessible are not the same thing.Perhaps it is time to move beyond telling people to ask for help and start asking the question what is happening to the people who are asking for help and are not receiving it.Because “just ask for help” is not a solution if, too often, there is nowhere to turn. – Yours, etc,AOLISH GORMLEY,Founder Year of Care Campaign,Sligo