People are being referred to mental health services in a "much more serious condition" compared to cases before the Covid pandemic, Professor Siobhan O Neill has said.
Northern Ireland areas with least access to GP-led counselling services revealed in new interactive map
Around half of GPs in some areas do not offer the service
GP-led counselling services by constituency (Image: PPR)
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For many people, counselling can offer an effective, low cost form of treatment that can help address pain and distress before these become acute.
It also prevents the medicalisation of emotional distress, a key consideration in a post-conflict society with record rates of prescribing for antidepressants, PPR has said.
Sara Boyce, mental health campaign organiser at PPR, said: We know that this pandemic is having a big effect on our mental health and will continue to do so for some considerable time. GPs will have a key role in connecting people to the support they need, so it s vital that they are properly equipped to do this. Counselling is one effective treatment but at this present time accessing counselling through your GP practice is a postcode lottery. In some areas every GP practice offers this service but in others, less than half of GP practices can offer it. This cannot be fair or right.
Concerns are mounting about the long-term impact of lockdown and school closures on children Seanín Graham
Seanín Graham
LAST month a group of influential British doctors and charities wrote an open letter to Boris Johnson demanding the creation of a commission to tackle the Covid pandemic s devastating effect on children.
Young people s welfare had become a national emergency , they said, and they pointed to the yawning gap in attainment between rich and poor kids following school closures.
Warnings about the inevitable rise in the number of children with mental health issues were also made, as the crisis deepened “with every day that lockdown keeps them isolated and uncertain about their futures”.