{"id":87644,"date":"2025-10-17T23:56:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T23:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/87644\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T23:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T23:56:06","slug":"breaking-the-stigma-limerick-man-bravely-speaks-of-his-mental-health-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/87644\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the stigma: Limerick man bravely speaks of his mental health challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON THE face of it, 26-year-old Annacotty<\/a> man Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Maoilchiar\u00e1in has everything going for him.<\/p>\n

Confident, handsome, outgoing, a talented broadcaster and a Gaeilgeoir to boot.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the problem with only seeing what\u2019s on the outside.<\/p>\n

On the inside, things can be very different.<\/p>\n

IN PICTURES: JFK boys in the blue as Limerick city kingpins bid to reclaim title!<\/a><\/p>\n

Since 2019, Se\u00e1n has been aware that he suffers from depression, and has experienced panic attacks.<\/p>\n

At the time, he had no concept of what was going on with his body and mind, and he was drawn into a journey of self-discovery to fully understand what he was going through.<\/p>\n

Now, with the annual Movember fundraiser on the way – where men across the world often grow a moustache and raise money to support causes like male mental health and suicide prevention – Sean has bravely spoken out, as he puts it, to: \u201cbreak down the stigma and the barriers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking from Galway, where the University of Limerick graduate now calls home, Se\u00e1n said: \u201cI was shocked in a lot of ways it could happen to me. There were things that I was aware of that happened to people. But it was one of those that I felt, \u2018how could it happen to me?\u2019 I would be very happy-go-lucky and outgoing. I would try to have a positive outlook on life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like so many going through panic attacks, Sean initially did not realise what was happening.<\/p>\n

“When I had my first panic attack, I fully thought I was going to die. It was the scariest thing to happen. I had no idea what was going on with my body,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Mental health problems did not even register on the then 19-year-olds radar – when he went to his GP, it was a case of going through all the checks on his physical health – blood pressure tests, a cardiac exam and the like.<\/p>\n

It was really only after this, they landed on mental health as a challenge for Se\u00e1n .<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came to terms with it myself, I realised, if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. As a young man, I think it\u2019s important we talk about these things. I felt quite alone when it started happening to me until I realised that I wasn\u2019t,\u201d the 26-year-old explained.<\/p>\n

There were signs prior to 2019, which he admits, he perhaps ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always a worrier, I was always an overthinker, I was always very anxious. Maybe it just built up to a crescendo and it eventually all came out. My body went into panic mode, and that was that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living with depression and anxiety can still be very misunderstood. People can catastrophise over something like being a few minutes late for work on a morning after lying awake at night unable to sleep.<\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n explains: \u201cThe physical toll of being in \u2018fight or flight\u2019 mode regularly is definitely tough. I\u2019ve not had a panic attack in quite a while, but what it does to you is insane. You get into such a heightened state.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are certain warning signs that Sean looks for – a pain at a certain spot in his back, which makes him realise he needs to start looking after himself better.<\/p>\n

He uses a ‘toolbox’ when he spots what he describes as an \u201cearly warning system\u201d, which can be waking up exhausted, appetite changes, or not making time for himself.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons Se\u00e1n works to raise mental health awareness is having seen other young men bottle up their emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see sometimes people get to a point where they cannot hold it in anymore. That can manifest itself in so many ways. In anger and distress. In self-harm and in some cases suicide. Where people are so determined to bottle it up and push things down and down, the dam does eventually burst.\u201d<\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n has been lucky enough to have access to therapy, plus supportive friends and family, but acknowledges that\u2019s not been everyone\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

As he puts it, many are left on extended waiting lists.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore investment is needed to actively tackle mental health and health in general in this country,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Se\u00e1n is in a good space at the moment, despite the uncertainty of living \u201cgig-to-gig\u201d as a freelancer at times.<\/p>\n

He is part of a rugby team, and some of his teammates are refreshingly open and supportive on mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about anti-depressants, we\u2019ll talk about going to therapy, we\u2019ll talk about how anxiety affects us. These conversations would not have happened before,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

The key thing he wants to finish on, is tackling the often-misguided perception that people who are open about struggling with their mental health are somehow weak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it though that people who deal with mental health difficulties on a daily basis, are much stronger than most people could imagine and admitting you are struggling is one of the bravest things you can do in a world that will tell you to keep quiet or push through alone,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

For more information, and to get involved in Movember this year, visit https:\/\/ie.movember.com\/<\/p>\n

Alternatively, telephone 01-6854395<\/p>\n

If you are struggling with some of the issues raised in this article, please contact the Samaritans. It\u2019s the only charity in Ireland offering emotional support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to anyone who is in distress, lonely, struggling to cope or feeling suicidal.\u00a0You can call 116123 free, or email jo@samaritans.ie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ON THE face of it, 26-year-old Annacotty man Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Maoilchiar\u00e1in has everything going for him. Confident, handsome,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[7519,4500,103,61,60,1396,410,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-87644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-annacotty","9":"tag-galway","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-limerick","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}