There has, in recent years, been unanimous agreement Northern Ireland is facing a mental health crisis.
Waiting lists for specialist help through counselling and support services have been soaring.
There is encouragement for those who are suffering to ‘talk about it’, seek the support that is there and find some comfort in the help of others. But what is the point in telling people to seek that help when that help is consistently being withdrawn due to lack of funding?
A mental health charity in Londonderry has said it can no longer accept new referrals. The reason, of course, is “a severe shortage of funding”.
Men’s Action Network (MAN) has spent three decades assisting thousands of men and their families in the city, with services never once supported by core funding from the government.
Former world champion boxer Carl Frampton has produced award-winning documentaries on the subject of mental health, the issues it causes within families and the despair it can bring to individuals.
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Among services to be hit in Derry will be a boxing group that not only provides an outlet for men to come together and share experiences, it improves health and fitness. MAN ticks all the boxes for what wider society needs as a support mechanism.
How many more similar groups which have proved invaluable, even life-saving for some, will have to fall by the wayside before the penny drops?
There are any number of similar services across Northern Ireland which are coming under increasing pressure.
They provide assistance when needed, they are there for people who are experiencing the toughest of times. And they need to be supported if they are to continue the vital role they play in society.
“Every day was not a given for me,” one person who has benefitted from the services being provided by MAN said.
“Now I don’t have those thoughts any more.”
Those words should bring it home just how vital these support networks are.
Every year, over 750 men rely on services at MAN for support, guidance and companionship.
Should the worst happen and the service be halted completely, where are they supposed to go, where is the help they need?
Are they just to be cut adrift as statistics that will, inevitably, be added to other parts of the mental health network which simply cannot cope with demand?
The mental health crisis extends well beyond those individuals in need.
Who is there to care for those who provide the care?