Accessing mental health support after moving to Ireland

Getting through the day can be difficult when you’re feeling low, stressed or anxious, and as someone who has recently moved to Ireland, you may be unsure of where to turn to for help. Sometimes, managing these difficult feelings on your own can seem like the safest option, and that’s understandable. However, ignoring low mood, stress, or anxiety for a long time without mental health support can lead to becoming overwhelmed. It can also harm your physical health in the long run.

Accessing mental health support as a migrant in Ireland

Here, you will find information and support that can help you to feel better. This information will provide answers to the following questions:

What’s causing me to feel anxious or stressed?
Could a mental health professional help me?
How do I access professional mental health support?
How do I get information on the Irish health service in my own language?
What level of professional support do I need?
Do I have to pay for professional mental health support?
What if I’m afraid to access professional support?

What’s causing me to feel anxious or stressed?

Identifying why you might be feeling stressed or low can be a good first step to feeling better. It is possible you’re feeling stressed about negative experiences or challenges you might be facing in Ireland. Some people may experience difficult living conditions, feel isolated, or face unfair treatment. There can also be obstacles to getting education, finding work, or securing a safe place to live.

Feeling stressed, low or anxious all come under the umbrella of a person’s mental health. While there are many different causes of mental health difficulties, some types of common mental health difficulties include:

• Regular feelings of sadness, fear, anger, anxiety, grief, frustration, and hopelessness
• Problems sleeping
• Unexplained physical symptoms, such as fatigue, headache, and loss of appetite
• Loneliness and isolation due to separation from support networks and/or social exclusion
• Emotional distress due to racism or discrimination
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to exposure to armed conflict, violence, abuse, poverty, homelessness and/or persecution

If you are finding it difficult to identify what might be causing your worries, that’s okay too. It is not unusual to experience unexplained changes in mood or stress levels from time to time. However, it can be a good idea to reach out for emotional support if these difficulties last for more than a couple of weeks.

Could a mental health professional help me?

It’s possible you are wondering whether seeing a mental health professional could be helpful to you. Asking yourself the following questions may help you to reach a decision that’s best for you:

1. How much is your distress affecting your ability to go about your day-to-day activities, like going to work or school, parenting, or preparing meals?
2. How long have you felt low, anxious or stressed?
3. Are you in contact with people that you trust who can listen to you and support you?
4. Do you regularly hurt yourself on purpose?
5. Do you feel like your life is not worth living?

Different cultures relate to mental health in different ways. You can read more about what most mental health professionals mean by mental health in:

• Our article on mental health as a spectrum
• The HSE’s yourmentalhealth.ie (information provided in English)

Cairde, an organisation providing health advocacy and information services, also provides a Mental Health Guide for Ethnic Minorities in Ireland in a range of languages.

When to consider seeking professional support

If you’ve been feeling low, anxious, or stressed for more than two weeks, and it’s starting to interfere with your day-to-day life, it’s a good idea to reach out for support. Talking to a trusted adult or a mental health professional can really help.

If there’s no one you feel safe talking to right now, and you answered yes to questions 4 or 5 above, it’s especially important to seek support from a mental health professional. Your GP or medical doctor is usually the first person you can speak to about how you’re feeling. Find more information on how to access a GP in the section of this article on paying for professional mental health support.

Feeling stressed, low, or anxious is not always a sign that you need professional support. Sometimes, you might find that speaking to a trusted adult helps you to feel calmer and more able to cope with the challenges you’re facing. You might also benefit from finding up-to-date, reliable information on how to meet your basic needs.

How do I access professional mental health support?

If you would like professional support managing your emotional distress, it can be helpful to visit your GP first. Your GP is your medical doctor. Contact your Local Health Office for details of GPs (family doctors) in your area.

Talking to the GP about your mental health can be difficult. If it feels safe to you, it is a good step to tell them what kind of distress you’re experiencing, how long it’s been going on, and how it’s affecting your day-to-day life. It’s normal for the GP to ask for information about your medical history, including other illnesses and injuries you might have had and any medications you’re taking. Answering the questions the GP asks you will help them to decide how best to support you.

If your case is not urgent but you need expert treatment, your GP may choose to refer you to a mental health professional in the community or a specialist mental health service, like Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) if you’re under 18, or Adult Mental Health Services if you’re over 18. If your GP thinks that you are at risk or need urgent professional support, they will give you a referral letter for the hospital’s Local Injury Unit (LIU) or emergency department (often called ‘ED’ or A and E).

In Ireland, mental health and other health care professionals try to see patients most in need of professional support first. This means that you may have to wait to receive an appointment by letter through the post. If you do not speak English, you can always ask for an interpreter.

Getting information on the Irish health service in my own language

You can find out more information on how to access the Irish health service in the HSE’s About the Irish Health System: A guide for refugees and other migrants. This guide is available to read online in 22 different languages.

Alternatively, visit healthconnect.ie provided by Cairde. HealthConnect is a multilingual website which provides information on health services in Ireland, including GP practices, hospitals, maternity and women’s health and mental health.

What level of professional support do I need?

There are four levels of mental health support available in Ireland based on how much your mental health difficulties are affecting your ability to go about your day-to-day activities.

You can find out more about what level of support you might need and how to access it in our article on how to get mental health treatment in Ireland.

Do I have to pay for professional mental health support?

The first point of contact for accessing mental health support in Ireland is your GP or medical doctor. A medical card entitles you to see a GP and receive some types of medical services for free, although some prescription charges may still apply.

Medical cards and GP visit cards

Being a medical card holder entitles you to access free mental health support from a range of primary care (community-based) and specialist services by way of a referral from your GP. Read more about these different levels of HSE-funded supports and how to access them in our article on how to get mental health treatment in Ireland.

Without a medical card, you generally have to pay about €50-€70 per GP visit, but you can ask about the doctor’s fee when you are making your appointment. If you would like to apply for a medical card, you can do so online at medicalcard.ie. Bear in mind that applications are means-tested, which means that the decision to grant you a medical card will depend on your level of income. If you are not eligible to receive a medical card, you may still be entitled to a GP visit card.

To qualify for a medical card, you may need to prove you are “ordinarily resident” in Ireland, which means that you are living in Ireland and intend to live here for at least one year.

Free 24/7 instant messaging services and helplines

Some non-profit organisations also offer mental health information, support groups, and helplines to young people, which you can access for free. You do not need a GP referral to access instant messaging support services and helplines, which generally cater to people with mental health challenges that are not substantially affecting their day-to-day activities.

These include:

• Text About It
• Bodywhys (Eating Disorders Association of Ireland)
• Childline
• Teenline
• Barnardos
• Pieta House

To find a list of free and low-cost mental health services in Ireland, visit our article on affordable treatment for mental health.

If you are interested in learning more about finding a psychotherapist who understands your unique experience, or accessing professional support, you can visit our article on accessing culturally sensitive mental health services in Ireland.

Feeling overwhelmed and want to talk to someone?

• Get anonymous support 24/7 with our text message support service
• Connect with a trained volunteer who will listen to you, and help you to move forward feeling better
• Whatsapp us now or free-text SPUNOUT to 50808 to begin.
• Find out more about our text message support service

If you are a customer of the 48 or An Post network or cannot get through using the ‘50808’ short code please text HELLO to 086 1800 280 (standard message rates may apply). Some smaller networks do not support short codes like ‘50808’.