Out of Silence – Women’s Mental Health in their Own Words

Missie Collins was one of the panelists at the launch of ‘Out of Silence’ a report by the National Women’s Council of Ireland on women’s mental health.  The report acknowledges the role discrimination and racism has to play in contributing to poor mental health for women along with other factors.

Dr Clodagh Dowling delivered the keynote address saying women can feel shame and powerlessness. Feelings of being overwhelmed and not being able to express these feelings are reported and can lead to eating disorders.

The report says that because of the impact of social determinants on health,  that when we look at women’s mental health we must simultaneously look at the structural inequalities which women face and which negatively impact their
mental health.

We must understand how health fits within the context of women’s lives. As a result, any examination of women’s mental health needs must reflect that women are more likely to be poor, to parent alone, to be the main provider of unpaid care work, to experience racism and discrimination, to be in precarious employment earning low wages and to be at risk of domestic or sexual violence.