Mental health affects everyone. There is no fail proof way to avoid mental health issues and struggles, and unfortunately, as time progresses, so do the external factors in our lives forcing us to deal with these problems – no matter who you are, and no matter what the issues may be. Mental Health issues don’t hold prejudice and don’t care who you are or what you’re doing, and the fact is that this is something that everyone will have to deal with in their own unique experiences.

Dealing with these issues usually manifests in community efforts, with each sphere of sport, music, entertainment and so on coming together with initiatives to show support to one another and peers. The dance music community is no stranger to this. Although traditionally conservative with their conversations about struggling, it’s becoming a normative to be open about this topic (unfortunately mostly proceeding a tragic event consequently of Mental Health struggles) with plenty of initiatives, communities and so on taking action in many ways

There’s often the perception that mental health issues don’t apply to those working within what’s considered the ‘dream’ job circle of music and more, but the reality is that it does, and heavily. With more and more of our favourite acts coming out and addressing their mental health issues publicly, its lead the way to more honest conversations in the public sphere showing support, solidarity and breaking down stigmas and more for those struggling. With club culture, and with interactions mainly taking place in clubs, there’s a pressure to keep up a smile. But after the lights, loud music and more are shut off, we may be left alone with our own thoughts – a hard contrast to that of what club culture is made up of. So often, it’s good to remind people that we can stick together just as sports teams can, or just as your local institution can.

With that in mind, we would encourage you to watch this documentary. The documentary, set to be the first crowd funded documentary aired on RTE, was made by concerned students aimed demographically at young adults and a side of their lives that can be extremely difficult to talk about for some. Their hope is to encourage conversations within peer communities and prevent as many lives lost as possible to mental health issues.

“In 2017, Ireland had on average more than one suicide per day, according to the Central Statistics Office. Although there has been progress surrounding talking about your mental health in Ireland, this progress has not come far enough, and has come too late for many. We believe that more has to be done to encourage people to talk about their mental health, and we believe that our documentary can act as a catalyst to aid remedying this situation.”

Back in 2015, a group of concerned students fostered the idea of making a documentary about mental health in Ireland, made by young people for young people. What started as an idea in a kitchen, has now grown into an hour long production that will hit RTE 2 on October 10th 2018.

“What was initially a side project to tackle an issue we saw affecting our peers, featuring interviews of close friends, has now grown to feature the likes of Doug Leddin and several other young people from around the country.”

“Being students at the time of producing a documentary meant that we were not privy to the resources production companies have. Initial filming was only possible by using equipment that we already owned and relying on favours from friends.

As filming progressed, we became more and more ambitious, realising that the need for a documentary of this kind and the impact that it potentially could have, were bigger than we initially perceived. After noticing that the people of Ireland had an appetite for an honest documentary on mental health, we decided to reach out to members of the public in order to raise funds to make the highest quality possible documentary that we could. Due to the kindness and caring nature of the Irish public we were able to raise over €2,000 and produce a high quality content documentary.”

What began as a social media video to be premiered online, has now developed into the first ever crowdfunded documentary to be aired on our national broadcaster. This is as a result of the Irish people’s support on social media, and the willingness of public figures to address an issue which has affected friends and families throughout Ireland for years.

We hope that the Our Mental Health documentary and the people involved who share their personal stories, not only give an honest account of Ireland’s mental health, but also show how depression and anxiety can be overcome. We believe that the Our Mental Health documentary can start a movement, and encourage the audience to be the change, and start looking after your mental health and the mental health of those around you.”

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