​Blogs

For some young people, the school morning brings more than the usual grumbles. It brings stomach aches, tears, shutdown or panic. For parents, it can be heartbreaking and confusing, especially when you're told to "just get them in." This is school distress, and in Ireland it's far more common than many people realise. It's not about a child who "won't" go School distress is often described as school refusal, but that language puts the problem on the child. In our experience,

Parenting a teenager is a rollercoaster at the best of times. When you're parenting a teenager with ADHD, many parents tell us they feel like they're constantly nagging, firefighting, and wondering where the connection went. If that sounds familiar, you're not doing it wrong. You're doing something genuinely hard. Parenting a teenager with ADHD: understanding what's going on ADHD affects the brain's executive functions: planning, organising, starting tasks, managing time and

This Movember, make space for your wellbeing. Every November, moustaches start appearing across Ireland. It's easy to laugh along, but behind Movember sits a conversation about men's mental health in Ireland that we badly need to keep having: how are the men in our lives really doing? Men's mental health in Ireland: what the numbers tell us In Ireland, more than three out of every four deaths by suicide are men. On average, men here live around four years less than women, and

Welcome to this month’s blog! As a clinical specialist occupational therapist working in mental health, I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges many young people face when it comes to attending school. This month, I want to dive into a crucial topic: attendance doesn’t equal wellness. Understanding the Struggle We’re seeing an increasing number of young people coming into our clinic who are struggling to attend school. While attendance is often viewed as a sign of wellness, t