Sharing the truth about mental health problems

ÉNNIS Glór Theatre will play host to actress Mary McEvoy, comedian John Moynes and Newstalk broadcaster Dil Wickremasinghe as they share their personal stories of mental health problems on Thursday.
This specially commissioned theatre piece entitled Box of Frogs embarks on a national tour as part of the national Green Ribbon campaign to encourage open discussion of mental health.
Dubbed by the cast as “a happy play about being sad,” Box of Frogs sets out to take an irreverent and rollicking look at the Irish approach to mental health using the authentic material of the cast’s real life experiences.
Through a mixture of stories, comedy sketches and songs, the cast tell their own stories, demystifying, debunking and having a laugh with what really goes on inside our heads.
Actress Mary McEvoy, whose personal story of anxiety and depression forms the basis of her part in the show, said “I have no shame about my condition at all. I can work perfectly well through it but my challenge has been convincing other people I can work perfectly well through it.”
“There are people out there who think that they should keep their illness to themselves and I just want to encourage people not to do that and to talk, talk and talk and not allow people discriminate against you because of your mental condition because the person you’re sitting beside on the bus, the person you meet coming out of mass that you think is absolutely fine and hasn’t a care in the world could be suffering very deeply inside,” she said.
As part of the green ribbon campaign, See Change and its 80 partner organisations are distributing 150,000 ribbons nationwide free of charge and in conjunction with various community events with the aim of sparking a national conversation about mental health in Ireland’s boardrooms, break-rooms, chat-rooms, clubhouses, arts venues, college campuses and around kitchen tables.
“Wearing the green ribbon is a simple way of showing your support for the campaign and leaving the door open for a conversation about mental health. You don’t need to be an expert to start talking about mental health or have all the answers, sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is let someone know you are there for them and simply listen,” campaign manager with See Change, Kahlil Thompson-Coyle said.
Just like the pink ribbon became a powerful symbol for breast cancer awareness, this lime green ribbon has been established in North America as the international symbol for mental health awareness.
Booking information for the Box of Frogs performance on June 13 at 8pm is available from the theatre box office on 065 6843103, or from www.glor.ie.
Box of Frogs is directed by Caroline FitzGerald and written by Isobel Mahon in collaboration with cast members Mary McEvoy, John Moynes and Dil Wickremasinghe.
For more information, visit www.greenribbon.ie.