’Let us help our adult children’ mother pleads following death of son by suicide
Speaking on Liveline this afternoon, grieving mother Majella pleaded for changes to be made to allow parents be part of the treatment process for adults suffering mental health problems.
Majella called Liveline to raise awareness of the problems facing a number of families in Ireland and spoke about her son, Shane died by suicide in August – he was only 24 years old.
Shane began suffering mental health issues from the age of 15 and suffered from psychosis.
He was put on medication and as he was still considered a child, Majella was attending his appointments with him.
When Shane turned 18, Majella said that problems arose.
He was now an adult and doctors would no longer peak to her as his mother.
Instead, Shane attended his regular check ups alone and managed to mask the extent of his illness.
"I think if we could have spoken to a doctor and they listened to us and if they could have taken him in on the Wednesday, Shane would still be here today," Majella told Liveline.
Things escalated in May of this year when Shane attacked his younger sister and as a result, Majella’s sister took him in.
While living with his aunt outside Dublin, Shane fell in with a new group of friends who convinced him that he didn’t need his medication and if he smoked cannabis he would be cured.
Without his medication, he became increasingly paranoid and when his family tried to help, he believed they were plotting to get him into hospital.
Majella hoped that things would change for the better when Shane finally asked for help.
"He wanted the help. He was saying that he was looking forward to getting a job," she told Joe.
His Aunt was able to get an appointment with the mental health department of the local hospital.
When Shane attended the appointment, he presented with cuts to his face caused by his attempts to silence the voices in his head. He would bang his head against a wall.
According to Majella, they asked him three questions "will you go home, take your meds and not go out of the house?"
He said yes and was sent home. Two days later Shane went missing. He was found six days later.
"None of this is going to bring Shane back. But if it could stop this from happening or any other family having to go through what we’re going through right now, it would be something," Majella said.
You can listen to Majella’s full story below.
