Irish musician and Voice of Ireland coach, Bressie, has compared the nerves he felt before he addressed the Oireachtas Health Committee today to the feeling he had before he sat his Leaving Certificate.
The 35-year-old Mullingar native is very open about his struggle with depression and General Anxiety Disorder and he told the government how their overall attitude towards mental illnesses in Ireland needs to change, and fast.
During his address to the Oireachtas Health Committee, he opened up about how his passion to help people dealing with mental health issues dates back to his own struggles with anxiety.
”When I was a teenager I simply did not have the capacity to cope with an utterly dominant anxiety disorder that seemed hell-bent on robbing me of my character and personality at every available opportunity," he said.
“Crippling insomnia, harrowing panic attacks and incomprehensible self-harm dictated my life, all disguised behind a mask of normality that polarized the general lazy stereotype or label we associate with those with a mental health illness”.
He later told RTÉ that he was nervous of "drawing a blank" during his speech.
"Last night I felt like I was doing my Leaving Cert or something - those unusual nerves that you get. I kept on thinking 'what if I just draw a blank?', he told Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1.
"It was definitely a tough crowd. It was actually very enjoyable once I got in".
Bressie addressing the Oireachtas Health Committee
Bressie, who is in a long-term relationship with model Roz Purcell, said it is the government's responsibility to "join the dots" and said the issue shouldn't become a "blame game" with their focus to be on building sustainable strategies.
"I think they all know [politicians] that it isn't good enough at the moment when it comes to mental health. It's not about head-hunting or pointing fingers or blame games because I just feel that won't get us anywhere," he said.
"We have some incredible people in the mental health services and in education and the mental health psychology services in Ireland. What we're not doing is joining the dots between these brilliant people and getting them in a room and also building long-term strategies.
"Let's face it politics isn't based on long-term strategy. A good mental health strategy is going to take years and years and years to develop."
Bressie after his win at the Irish Book Awards
The star took home the award for the best non-fiction book of the year at the 2015 Irish Book Awards for his debut book, Me and My Mate Jeffery, in which he explains how humanising his depression or ‘black dog’ helped him.
He also encouraged others to speak about their mental health issue in his hit RTÉ2 documentary Bressie's Ironmind.
Enlisting the help of experts in everything from psychology to nutrition he's took on the task of training four ordinary people with their own mental health challenges to compete in a gruelling half-Ironman event, having never trained for one before.
