(Food-Beverage-News.Com, November 14, 2012 ) Greenville, SC -- Irish Minister of Health James Reilly said that mental health is an issue in Ireland that needs to be dealt with seriously due to the significant number of suicides that the country has seen recently.
Dr. Reilly was responding to a call by Dan Neville, his party colleague, who said that counsellors and psychotherapists should be included in the scope of the Health and Social Care Professionals Amendment Bill.
Dr. Reilly said he had been to two funerals in the past fortnight, and that one of his good friends had taken his own life not four years ago. The man’s son then committed suicide just recently. The doctor said that while he personally knows of many people who have taken their own lives, he is aware of countless others in the community and his claim is that people are not getting the right treatment.
According to Reilly, too many people are getting qualified as psychotherapists without the proper credentials. He noted that the educational standards need to be raised if the country wants to attack the national mental health epidemic. Reilly was adamant that those people who claim to have the proper credentials, may have simply taken a weekend course and now call themselves doctors. He added that people without the proper training can actually have an opposite effect on people with mental health issues.
In order to receive adequate training, one must be schooled for no less than four years says Dr. Reilly. So, the Minister declined to include counsellors in the Amendment while the educational standards are being examined.
Dan Neville said that it could take up to 30 years for the government to change the requirements, to which Dr. Reilly responded, “How many people will die by suicide in this time?”
Another health spokesman said that too many “self-appointed” therapists are “preying” on unexpecting people who truly need help.
Dr. James Reilly, who is in favor of the Amendment, said that he hopes to have the matter dealt with by the start of 2014, but knows that the legal process could take some time.
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