{"id":259778,"date":"2026-01-27T08:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/259778\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:35:08","slug":"it-made-me-go-god-these-are-stories-people-dont-hear-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/259778\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It made me go, God, these are stories people don\u2019t hear\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coping with mental health<\/a> issues from early teenage years fuelled Marysia Pachowicz\u2019s long-held dream of becoming a clinical psychologist.<\/p>\n

Until, halfway through doing a master\u2019s, the Trinity College Dublin<\/a> graduate realised it was the wrong career choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a clinical psychologist, you kind of have two options. You work in public services or you work privately. And I didn\u2019t want to work in public services because I have had a really bad experience with public services. So I didn\u2019t want to be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had little faith in the idea that the system could be changed from within.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrish services are so psychiatrist-led that, as a psychologist, your power is quite limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nor did Pachowicz want to work privately \u201cbecause I wanted to provide care that would be accessible if I were to do it\u201d. It left them knowing that, as they put it, \u201cI don\u2019t want to do this thing that I came into this master\u2019s degree [in applied psychology] to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, for a thesis they did a qualitative study with people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, asking how they had fared in navigating mental health care. <\/p>\n

\u201cI found that to be a very difficult but an incredibly rewarding piece of research to do. And it just made me go, \u2018God, these are stories that people don\u2019t hear. These are people that have been so just let down by the services and are so unheard and disempowered. And I would love to help give them a voice\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"MarysiaMarysia Pachowicz: ‘It really felt like they were just trying to get me through the system as quickly as they could.’ Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

At the same time, Pachowicz was using their own first-hand experience, as a member of the service users\u2019 group for Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone, to advise the Department of Health<\/a> on the implementation of mental health policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy journey with my mental health has been quite long and complex but, in short, I have a recurrent major depressive disorder, which basically means that I experience repeated episodes of depression over the course of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Our psychology services are overwhelmed. It doesn\u2019t have to be like thisOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

They have also struggled with problems such as anxiety and intrusive thoughts, body image, and food issues. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of layers to it.\u201d They were in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services<\/a> (Camhs) briefly as a teenager. \u201cIt was not a great experience, which is why it was brief.\u201d But they acknowledge being lucky in having peers who would talk openly about struggling with mental health, so self-stigma was not a big issue.<\/p>\n

At TCD Pachowicz found professional support through the \u201cincredible\u201d student counselling service and was referred to one of the college\u2019s attending psychiatrists. But it was a different story when attending public mental health services after college, where they say they were misdiagnosed and put on treatment \u2013 without being told initially what the diagnosis was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was diagnosed with something, after nowhere near enough assessment. Then I was referred for treatment for this diagnosis that I didn\u2019t know I was given and didn\u2019t have.\u201d <\/p>\n

Once Pachowicz learned of and challenged the diagnosis, while explaining the treatment was not helping, the response was very much \u201cyou\u2019re not trying hard enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really felt like they were just trying to get me through the system as quickly as they could. Like what I wanted, what I felt, what I needed, didn\u2019t really matter. That was definitely the greatest amount of stigma I\u2019ve ever really encountered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ProfProf Sin\u00e9ad McGilloway of Maynooth University, principal lead of Co-Prime. ‘We recognise the research is not getting into policy and practice as quickly as it should’ <\/p>\n

Subsequent treatment through private services and ongoing medication has helped Pachowicz, now aged 26, manage their condition. Working as a researcher with the Think-tank for Action on Social Change (Tasc) in Dublin, they are also taking on a role with a new, all-island mental health research network, which will be driving involvement and proper remuneration of people with lived experience at every stage of any study.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may not believe this, but we do not have proper systems in our universities to properly reimburse people with lived experience to take part in the research,\u201d says Prof Sin\u00e9ad McGilloway of Maynooth University, who is principal lead of the new network Co-Prime (an acronym from Co-producing and Promoting Research and Innovation in Mental Health). \u201cUniversities need to sit up and take notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mental health experts on burnout, therapy and the \u2018medicalisation of mild anxiety\u2019 in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Pachowicz is co-lead of Co-Prime\u2019s lived experience core team, along with Conor Gavin, who is psychosis research centre co-ordinator in St John of God Research Foundation. They will, he says, be making sure that public and patient involvement is central to everything that is being done in the network. Currently Gavin regards lack of clarity around payment and parity of esteem as an ongoing barrier to involvement of those with lived experience in research.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir expertise is valuable, their time is valuable, we have to put a value on that.\u201d Making this one of Co-Prime\u2019s priorities is progress. \u201cThe next step now is to standardise how the contracts are managed, how people are trained.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without sufficient preparation, it can be intimidating for those with lived experience to participate in academic research. To boost recruitment, the team aims to raise awareness of the benefits of getting involved in the system but also ensure participants are supported.<\/p>\n

\"ConorConor Gavin, psychosis research centre co-ordinator, St John of God Research Foundation <\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes people might come in and agree to do it, but after a while they see that the right supports aren\u2019t there. They\u2019re not being supervised correctly. They don\u2019t have someone to turn to if something does go wrong, or if they\u2019re feeling uncomfortable with sharing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team also wants to see researchers \u201cbuy in\u201d to true co-production with people with lived experience, rather than regarding it as just a box to be ticked. Conducting research and only then, retrospectively, consulting people with lived experience is one practice they want stopped.<\/p>\n

Gavin (27) lives with mental illness. \u201cI had a psychotic episode at age 16, just over 10 years ago. I went on to be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which is a psychotic disorder with mood component, so depressive episodes and mania as well.\u201d The condition is managed with medication and he has never had a second psychotic episode, although he has had mood highs and lows.<\/p>\n

He was always interested in research science, and studied for a biochemistry degree before doing a master\u2019s in clinical neuroscience. After years of experience with psychosis, \u201cI did the master\u2019s to transfer into the mental health field. I wanted to give back really and see what I could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledges that the term \u201cpsychosis\u201d often strikes fear in the minds of the public, due to its association with reports of violent attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does happen, but it\u2019s rare. Generally there is no association, statistically, between having psychosis and being violent.\u201d Meanwhile, there are many positive stories coming out, highlighting how recovery is possible. This is \u201cbridging the gap between what actual psychosis is and what the public thinks it is\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gavin talks of a \u201cparadigm shift\u201d in mental health over the past two or three decades towards recovery. \u201cThe public are the last to know about it, really,\u201d he suggests, as waiting times and lack of beds attract most media attention. But there is great work being done \u2013 for instance, by the National Office of Mental Health Engagement and Recovery, which supports recovery colleges around the country.<\/p>\n

He finds doing media interviews and creating online content encourages others to open up about their mental health issues. \u201cPublic stigma is obviously a big one but self-stigma is almost just important to tackle as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Young adult mental health: \u2018Stigma and embarrassment still play a significant role in reluctance to seek help\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

McGilloway believes Co-Prime is \u201ca huge step forward\u201d for mental health research. With almost 150 individuals and organisations from North and South on the network, covering the huge scope of mental health, they are not aware of any similar network on the island of Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Health Research Board (HRB) is providing \u20ac1 million over five years for the running of the network, while the Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health, Mary Butler, has also announced an additional \u20ac2 million HRB funding for 10 mental health research projects, covering areas such as youth mental health, ADHD in adults and loneliness in older people.<\/p>\n

The \u201cunprecedented momentum in mental health research\u201d is partly because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, says McGilloway, who is working on Co-Prime with co-leads Dr Eve Griffin from the National Suicide Research Foundation and Prof Brian McGuire from the University of Galway. Administrative work for the network is already under way but the co-applicant team, consisting of 58 members, will gather online this Thursday, January 29th, for a kick-off meeting.<\/p>\n

This all-island collaboration is about trying to make research more co-ordinated and to bring different disciplines together, says McGilloway, \u201cbecause we tend to work within mental health research in quite siloed, fragmented ways\u201d. One focus will be \u201cknowledge translation\u201d, ie better communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise that the research is not, maybe, getting into policy and getting into practice as quickly as it should,\u201d says McGilloway, who was co-author of Ireland\u2019s first National Mental Health Research Strategy (2024). She believes the public also need to be better informed \u201cabout all the really excellent research that\u2019s happening in Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n

Research can sometimes be regarded as an esoteric pursuit within walls of academic institutions, but it is of real relevance, she says. While obviously more State funding is required for improved mental health services and to reduce waiting lists, \u201cwe need this evidence to make our services better. You need to know how your service is working; what needs to be improved; what we can do better; who benefits from what and when and under what circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Involvement of lived experience, or \u201cco-production\u201d as it is sometimes called, is vital \u201cfrom the get go\u201d, she says, \u201cbecause sometimes we do research and it\u2019s not responding to the needs\u201d. Co-prime will promote and support the use of lived experience at every stage, from \u201cformulating ideas right through to collecting data, training them up as peer researchers, getting them involved in presenting at conferences\u201d. <\/p>\n

In addition to the core team of 10 lived experience contributors, there will be workshops aimed at encouraging and training others, particularly from marginalised groups, to participate.<\/p>\n

With Gavin and Pachowicz on Co-Prime\u2019s leadership team, lived experience representatives have been given a key role, McGilloway points out, adding: \u201cWe want to be accountable, we want to be transparent, and we want to be seen to be relatable \u2013 not just in our institutions doing research that has no impact on anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coping with mental health issues from early teenage years fuelled Marysia Pachowicz\u2019s long-held dream of becoming a clinical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[112479,485,163,9411,137051,85,46,522,523,137052],"class_list":{"0":"post-259778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs","9":"tag-department-of-health","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-wellness","12":"tag-health-month","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-mental-health","16":"tag-mentalhealth","17":"tag-your-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}