The cost of living crisis is causing a mental health crisis worse than that of the pandemic, Northern Ireland's Mental Health Champion has warned.
Professor Siobhan O'Neill said poverty is putting increased pressure on many people in Northern Ireland, which leads to a cycle of trauma that can result in mental health issues and substance abuse.
Remarking that it's "horrendous" to see so many food banks here in 2022, she said the compassion shown by the groups running them is essential for helping others meet their basic needs. However, Professor O'Neill said it's not a substitute for the strong political leadership we need.
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Speaking at a visit to the Storehouse charity in Belfast city centre, she said a long-term solution is needed to address the cost of living crisis here to reduce the mental health impact, as one-off payments are not enough.
"Every one of us is only a pay packet away from being left destitute," Professor O'Neill told Belfast Live.
"I think the issue is we get a short term reaction, a payment, when what we actually need is a systemic change to reduce inequality in Northern Ireland. We need political leadership, we need an anti-poverty strategy that actually works.
"We need this from the top down, just giving people bits and pieces here and there is not going to change the systems that have led us to this situation. That change can happen.
"It's a choice, and it's about political leadership, and poverty initiatives to reduce inequalities. Mental health is determined by social justice issues.
"The cost of living crisis is putting significant pressure on people and it's affecting their mental health. It's actually driving people to a suicidal crisis, where they see no hope for the future and no alternative to suicide.
"They're destitute, they can't feed their families, they feel like failures - that's a very toxic combination that can lead people to suicidal crisis. The work we're seeing here [at Storehouse] is suicide prevention work as well as mental health work."
Storehouse, which was founded in 2008 from a church cupboard, has grown from offering food parcels to addressing the true needs of the city of Belfast.
Operating from a location on North Street, the charity have a clothing boutique and food store that provides help and dignity for people who are struggling. But at the core of their message is creating a community of support.
Stephen McLean from Storehouse said: "We have definitely seen an increased need. The people we see coming in have overloaded lives, with an inability to think to form a plan, completely high level of stress. We try to decrease that - we provide community, we provide friendship, we try our best to provide relaxed, safe spaces for people to sit if they're receiving services.
"We have the food shop that provides choice and dignity for people, and the same with our clothes shop, it's meant to look like a proper clothes shop. Communites and relationships are the things that build resilience.
"There are additional worries during summer, if you have kids on free school meals you've got the added pressure of dealing with them during this time. That pressure just adds until people are completely overwhelmed and led to do something drastic, whether that's suicide or beginning to medicate with drugs or alcohol.
"But hope for us is vital. We extend hope time and time again until the point where we're maybe tired and a little frustrated. We don't know when someone's life could change - we don't know if it's something as simple as us providing food and clothes, or a simple layer of compassionate response."
Professor O'Neill added that there are armies of groups across Northern Ireland setting up food banks to help their communities. Although praising the community effort, she added it's "horrendous" it has come to this.
She said: "There are people who are actually starving now in 2022 in Northern Ireland, and that's horrendous. There's a lot of people suffering now, and psychiatrists are warning of a mental health crisis that's going to be bigger than what's been caused by the pandemic."
For Stephen, he said the team at Storehouse are seeing the situation worsen as the cost of living crisis deepens.
He said: "I was talking with one of our service users who is currently surviving on a pension. He stacks all of his dishes up and washes them once a week, because if he uses the gas to heat the water he'll just go through it.
"It has an impact on his ability to even have a shower and wash his dishes. That has a massive impact on someone's ability to live out a life where they're not having to worry about what's coming next.
"It's coming down to heat or eat decisions, and we're seeing that very clearly on the ground. Is it going to get better or worse? I think it's going to get worse.
"That whole ripple effect of struggling, could then lead to substance abuse, domestic violence, losing relationships. Some of the guys we've met, just because they have no support network, everything folds and they find themselves on the streets within a matter of months.
"With the increasing bills at the minute, I can't see any massive government initiative that's going to make much of a difference. They seem to be addressing the symptoms, but not putting prevention measures in place."
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