A Letter to my Younger Self by Sonia Moloney, See Change Ambassador   Shame was the one thing that held me back from recovery; the need to hide my mental health struggle, the need to push everyone who cared about me away – my parents, my friends, my classmates. There was a day...Read More

  The antidote to self-stigma and shame  by Marie Duffy, See Change Ambassador I told myself every minute of every day that I was worthless. I was a failure. I was weak. It bred an inner critic that was so vicious that I turned to self-harm.   Mental health stigma did this to me. But I...Read More

  The Antidote to Shame by Kim Horkan, See Change Ambassador As someone who has struggled with mental illness for the majority of my life, I have become very well acquainted with the feeling of shame. As a teenager growing up, I felt shame in abundance. Shame I couldn’t get up in the morning to...Read More

The Behaviours of Shame by Gerry Murray, See Change Ambassador Hello, my name is Gerry. I was born in the sixties, I am a father of four children and I have a strong, supportive wife. I was born into the 60s era where I experienced behaviours and types of abuse which made me feel shame...Read More

  The Feelings of Shame by Aisling, See Change Ambassador See Change Ambassador, Aisling, has created a dance to express the feelings of shame that people with mental health difficulties can experience. The photos above are the stills from this dance.   If you are having a tough time at the moment and need to...Read More

How Shame Shows Up by Aisling Heavey “The moon has nothing to be sad about,   Staring from her hood of bone.” Edge, by Sylvia Plath   Shame can show up in society in many ways. We often find others whispering about experiencing a mental health difficulty. We see people dismissing mental health issues as weakness....Read More

  A Study of Shame by Lucie Kavanagh   “Guilt, of course, is feeling bad about one’s actions, but shame is feeling bad about oneself.” ― Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion   Recently I told a friend who hadn’t known me at the time, about my mental health difficulties...Read More

Black History Month by See Change Ambassador, Blessing Dada   The theme for this year’s Mental Health Week is “Mental Health in an Unequal World.” Thoughts that first come to mind when you read I read these: While the terms equity and equality may sound similar, the implementation of one versus the other can lead...Read More

Six Tips on Campaigning for Social Change  by See Change Ambassador, Shari McDaid   What would it take to change Irish society so that everyone who had a mental health diagnosis could feel confident that they could pursue their dreams without fear of discrimination? How can you and I make a difference towards this vision? ...Read More

Understanding Exclusion by See Change Ambassador, Sonia Moloney   As I sit down to write this, I feel a sense of discomfort. Because while I can say exclusion happens less and less, it still happens.   I’ve been through feeling excluded and, to be honest, it is one of the worst things you can go through. Exclusion in my...Read More