Breaking The Stigma Around Mental Health: Behind The #NowWereTalking Campaign with Pieta House and Lyons Tea

A year ago, Hot Press joined forces with Lyons Tea and Pieta House. The purpose of the collaboration was to take the Lyons Tea-inspired Now We’re Talking campaign on Mental Health to a new level.

This is an issue that matters deeply to everyone involved in the Now We’re Talking campaign. Historically, Irish people were very uncomfortable talking about mental health issues. If and when difficulties arose, the response tended to be a simplistic one. We’ve all heard the sentiments at one stage or another. Cop yourself on. Get it together. Would you for God’s sake smile!

Where it was very serious, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm entered the equation, it became even harder. The culture here was that these feelings were not to be talked about. Instead, to a very great extent, they were swept under the proverbial carpet. Hidden. Institutionalised. Out of sight.

There was a stigma attached to any admission of vulnerability. To feel stressed, depressed or full of anxiety was regarded as a sign of weakness. And as a result, too often, it became a secret – and a guilty one at that.

Now We’re Talking stands firmly in opposition to that culture of shame. To date, the campaign has achieved a remarkable level of progress. Dozens of leading lights in Irish music, arts and culture have joined the conversation. As you will see reading Now We’re Talking, we have also spoken to some of the newest big stars on the international block.

There will be new videos with some of our leading young musical lights. A major event, ‘Now We’re Talking Live – An Evening of Live Music and Discussion on Mental Health’, will take place in Smock Alley on World Mental Health Day, October 10th (more details below).

In this special supplement - which we'll be sharing online in the coming days leading up to October 10 - we also put a fresh emphasis on the music. On the one hand, in times of trouble, it is good to know that the artists and writers we revere have also been there: they have had to face down the demons and find a way back into the light, through talking and sharing and spreading the burden across the many, that is otherwise borne by one person alone. Music too acts as a catalyst for the talk that makes all the difference. A conversation that begins with the words “I’ve been listening to Bruce Springsteen,” can be a perfect way into the act of sharing – and of the kind of caring that we all need at some point in our lives.

The Now We’re Talking playlist of 20 extraordinary tracks will be expanded on Spotify, so keep in touch with hotpress.com, and our Spotify channels. As John Lennon so memorably put it: “What ever gets you through the night/ Is alright/ It’s alright.” Love.
The Now We’re Talking team

Now We're Talking 2019
A partnership between Lyons Tea, Pieta House & Hot Press.
Let’s break the stigma and take the dialogue about mental health issues onto a new level
#NowWe'reTalking
hotpress.com/now-we're-talking

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