DEAR SIR:

I very much enjoyed reading the article in Irish Country Living dated 14 November 2015 concerning mental health issues. Firstly, I would like to commend David Kerr for repeatedly and courageously speaking in public about his own mental illness. It is true that very few farmers are willing or indeed able to speak openly about how they are feeling. The article contains much useful and practical advice about what warning signs to look out for in those close to us and indeed in ourselves.

David Kerr recommends that farmers should try to be positive and mix with positive people, because negative people will wear you down. Up and down the country, we all know at least one “energy vampire” who will always bring negativity to any conversation or situation. Such people are to be pitied as well as avoided for they are often unaware of the ill effect they have on their contemporaries.

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In the side column, Dr Jack Halligan details some useful tell-tale signs of the onset of depression. Some are more obvious than others but I was struck by the last one – engaging in reckless behaviour. When someone I know engages in behaviour that was previously out of character, for example shouting at somebody in the street, I would have suspected drugs or alcohol but not mental illness. This should serve as an eye-opener for us all if confronted by odd behaviour as the perpetrator may need our sympathy and help rather than our judgement.

Again thank you to Irish Country Living, Áine Hennessy and David Kerr for shining a light on this difficult subject.