1. May 2013
G a t e w a yG a t e w a yG a t e w a y
Newsletter
Unit 1, 2 Park Hill, Rathmines Road, D 6. E-mail : thegatewaynewsletter@gmail.com
My Personal Story
By Patrick C.
My story of mental ill health is that I didn’t always
have mental health problems. As a lad growing
up I was always good at sports. Soccer is my favourite
sport. I’m a huge Liverpool fan.
I dropped out of school quite young, I had no second
level education as a young teenager. This affected my
self-esteem and then after a while I began drinking and
getting into trouble.
“mental health difficulties”
This was the start of me experiencing mental health
difficulties. My first hospitalisation was when I was
eighteen years of age. I was really suffering from
mental ill health problems. At the time I didn’t have an
understanding about my condition and how serious
the difficulties were. I remained in Psychiatric care for
nine years.
I stopped drinking when I was twenty four and my
mental health started to improve. Two years later, still
a patient in the hospital I was crossing the motorway
and I was knocked down. They pronounced me dead at
the scene. I drifted off into a coma on the way to the
hospital and remained in the coma for six weeks. I lost
a lot of blood they pumped thirty eight pints of blood
into me. I was nine weeks on life support. My left leg
was broken in four places, broken pelvis, broken ribs,
punctured lung, right foot drop and other injuries . This
had a huge affect on my mental health. I was four
months in hospital. I done physio-therapy. I wasn’t
sure if I would ever recover fully and walk again. I was
two years on crutches and eventually started walking
without support.
“very challenging”
I found it very challenging both physically and mentally
to recover. After a couple of years I began to start liv-
ing my life again. I started doing courses. I went back
and done the Junior and Leaving Certificate. I’m doing
a college course today and live in my own apartment
independently .
“good perception of reality”
Today I have a good perception on reality, my percep-
tion is not distorted. I am living my life doing things to
keep myself well and not lose touch with reality. I do
lots of exercise, including working out in the gym this
helps me stay well. I have certain things I do which
helps me, including a healthy diet. I know what effect
poor mental health have a person. The loneliness and
despair they feel. This is my personal story. And I hope
someone can learn or identify with it. And if you’re
struggling, there is light at the end the tunnel.
Hello
You are very welcome to the May edition of your Gateway newsletter. We hope you read it, and find some-
thing of interest to you. The main story this month is by Patrick C, and it tells how he overcame not only poor
mental health in his life, but also how he overcame horrific physical injuries as well. It is an amazing story of
sheer courage and determination.
We are also celebrating our 1st birthday in Parker Hill, Rathmines, so here’s to many more to come and lets
hope we will all be here for the 2nd.
So sit back and enjoy your newsletter, and if you would like write an article, please talk to Ali, Tom, Mary Q,
Patrick, AnnMarie, Ciarán, Mary M, Diarmaid or Michelle. We would love to hear from you. -The editors

2. Peer Listening
Peer listening is an activity that two people can do
together to help each other. You don't need any skills
or training to do it.
How it works
 Two people agree to spend some amount of time
talking to each other.The length of time is up you. A
good time for beginners is 2 minutes
each.
 Once you agree on the time, decide
who will speak first and set the timer.
The first person speaks while the
second person listens until the time is
up.
 The person speaking can talk about anything they
want. This is your time. You might want to talk about
something that's bothering you, or you might just
want to talk about your favourite sport. The key
thing to remember is that this time is yours to speak
about anything you wish.
 The only thing the person listening needs to do is
listen, and to keep anything that is said confidential.
You may like to nod to show that you are listening,
but you do not need to offer any advice to the other
person. You are giving them the gift of listening
attentively, and that is a valuable gift.
 When the timer goes, set it again and swap roles.
Now the second person speaks while the first person
listens to them attentively.
Benefits
I have found it helpful to be able speak my mind freely
and have another human being hear me
without expecting anything from them.
But I think I find it even better to be able
to give the gift of listening to another
person, and to sometimes see them feel
lighter for being listened to. You can do
peer listening with anyone just once if
you want to. Some people might find
someone they like doing it with and continue having
sessions together for years.
Difficulties
I think that the most difficult part of all this is actually
asking someone to do it with you. I can't imagine
anyone finds this easy! I'm hoping that people will use
the new 'Listening Room' in the drop-in centre to
practise peer listening. If you can think of how to make
it easier for people to do this, please do tell me or one
of the team. We would really welcome any ideas. -Ali
'Music and
Madness'
Ivor Browne’s childhood
playground was a few
acres in Dublin's
Sandycove where all the
youngsters would spend
endless hours in
unfettered play and open
imagination. At the same
time, his father would
declare 'I'm afraid Ivor was
a mistake'. His parents
'mixed' marriage
Protestant/Catholic (his
mother) represented the
primary internal conflict of
his youth. He still lives in
Dublin and at 84 years of
age, is virtually retired
from formal psychiatry.
However, his name still
appears as a practitioner at
the Institute of
Psychosocial medicine
located in Dun Laoghaire.
Sadly, his life partner,
writer and feminist, June
Levine passed away in
October 2008.
He distinguished himself
by holding the posts of
head of Psychiatric
Medicine in UCD and as
the director of
St. Brendan’s Hospital in
Grangegorman. And
according to himself, he
was 'ahead of his time', a
bohemian, and a thorn in
the side of the medical and
political establishment. It
was great to get my hands
on this big book and finally
demystify the man whose
name I had heard mention
so often. The account of
his early years and sunlit
childhood are an absolute
treat.
The title of this biography
comes from the fact that
he wanted to be a jazz
musician, but was forced
to give up the trumpet due
to recurring bouts of life-
threatening tuberculosis.
These virtually solitary
periods of quarantine
during the illness afforded
him ample time to ponder
his own recovery and also
the human condition. For

3. this reason, he went into
psychiatry. So the book
could equally be
titled....from Music to
Madness...
The ideas contained in this
book are ground-breaking
and of most interest to
anyone connected to the
area of mental health and
well-being. Although his
academic articles have
received a lot of
recognition, his methods
have not, as yet, been
widely adopted.
We can note at this point,
that the site at
Grangegorman is currently
being rebuilt to house a
faculty of the DIT. All that
remains of St Brendan’s
Hospital are perhaps 2
patients and a new day
care clinic named as the
Phoenix Care Centre. This
must have been influenced
by the former directors’
mental health philosophy:
‘What we urgently require
is a new form of asylum, a
therapeutic community
that provides a warm,
loving, human context
within which a person can
grow, develop a healthy
lifestyle, learn to work and
manage themselves. It is
then that the problem of so
-called “psychiatric illness”
ceases to be relevant.’
-Nessa
Tom &
Ali in
Ennis
To get the opportunity to become
an official WRAP facilitator was not
one to be missed. W.R.A.P standing
for Wellness Recovery Action Plan
was designed by Mary Ellen
Copeland after she was struggling
with her own mental health
difficulties. It states that you are the
expert on you and through the
workshop you can find ways to help
keep yourself well.
Watershed
Heading off on the train to Ennis was
definitely a watershed for me.
WRAP has changed how I view my
mental health and how I can
manage it. Instead of drifting in the
wind and relying on medication to
patch me up, now with the tools
from WRAP I can look at what I need
to do everyday to stay well. I have
struggled long enough to know all
too well how difficult life is when
not going well so for me following
my daily maintenance plan is a
must.
Nervous at first
I was a little nervous at first as I
knew there would be presentations
on the horizon. I knew where I was
at (about 55% sometimes better
sometimes worse) and the nature of
the learning that there would be no
escaping the dreaded standing up in
front of the group and pretending to
be in a much better place than I am.
However after 31 years of a hard life
I have grown wiser and for the first
presentation I got special treatment
and was allowed to give it from
where I was sitting. It passed off
with excruciating pain. Ali did hers
with ease and delivered it very well
as was to be expected. The second
presentation was a riveting heartfelt
performance. I used the smiling
exercise as an ice breaker and was
generally more relaxed. I gave it on
my 'Triggers' and what my action
plans were.
Settled into the training
The group was about 15 from all
over but mostly from the West of
Ireland. Many in the group thought I
was from Dublin. I could understand
why as I am from the Pale. As the
group got to know one another
more we all settled into the training.
The belief in WRAP was
overwhelming to see many in the
group who had experience of
mental health difficulties or had
family members with self experience
or worked with people who faced
these challenges explain why and
how they wanted to see WRAP used
more often. My folder was in
demand in the group for
photocopying as it was far more
comprehensive than the rest of the
group (thumbs up to Fionn & Ali).
Liam who is the founder of WRAP
Ireland reminded us on the last day
that WRAP is continuous learning
and he is available for any questions
we may have on an ongoing
basis.Back on the train
On the way back on the train I was
tired and my conversation was
bouncing from the book I was trying
to read, to the sun shining, the
trees, how great the train is, what
I’m going to add to my daily
maintenance plan, hair dye etc. etc.
I then realised that I was possibly
wrecking Ali's head she smiled and
said that it was ok as we were nearly
in Dublin! -Tom

4. Getting to know me with
John L.
What do you like about Gateway?
“I like the interaction between
members”
What did you want to work at in life?
“To be an official at a bank”
Where is your favourite place?
“Rosses Point in county Sligo. The best
golf courses in Ireland are there”
Tell us something about yourself
“I took part in a circus on the high wire”
Random Notes Radio Show
by Richard Moloney every second
Wednesday between 9.00pm –
10.30pm on Near 90.3fm and
online at
www.near.ie/livestream
Relaxation & Meditation
continues on Mondays in
May from 3.45pm-4.45pm!
Indian Head Massage is on
the last Monday every Month
from 1.45pm till 4.45pm
A very trendy coffee bar called
Toast on Lr. Rathmines Road is
where Oliver D and other mem-
bers of Gateway meet every
Wednesday at 1 o’clock.
All are very welcome and thanks
to Oliver for his commitment to
this meet-up.
Patrick takesPatrick takesPatrick takes goldgoldgold with the blackwith the blackwith the black
Another fascinating Pool competition took place last month in Parker Hill.
Loud gasps of disbelief were heard as Mary M swept into round 2 as she
trounced Ciarán. The loudest gasp coming from Ciarán himself, as he
realised yet another month would go by before he would get another
chance to win this much sought after title.
“big guns fell”
Big names like Joe O’, and Nicholas fell by the wayside early on as well. Ali
made a surprise entry into the competition and amazed everyone, including
herself by potting a ball. It was the day for the underdog it seemed. There
was total shock as the likes of Tom M went crashing out in the first round
also. That is till the two Titans remained to treat us all to a thrilling final.
“beads of sweat”
From where I was sitting in the front row I could see tiny beads of sweat
break across Patricks brow as Sandra started potting the yellow balls left,
right and centre. It looked certain that it was to be Sandra’s day. But Patrick
had different ideas. It all came down once again to 1 last single black ball,
and Patrick made no mistake. He leaned over the table and in his usual
quick and stylish way of playing , potted the black and took the gold. Sandra
presented Patrick with his award, shook his hand and, silently under her
breath said to him, “See you next month buddy”.
But hey, congratulations to Patrick C. and the well deserved title of being
the champ for March goes to you Paddy.
11 Wynnfield Road Dublin 6. Ph. 01-4965558 www.projectgateway.blogspot.com
Views expressed in this newsletter are only views of the contributors and not views of the Gateway Project.
Jokes of the month
Two goldfish swimming in a tank. One
says to the other,
“Do you know how to drive this
thing”?
What did the fish say when he swam
into a wall?
“Dam”.
“Waiter, waiter. There are 2 ears in
my soup”
“What” says the waiter.
The fishing group are meeting Tuesday 4/06/13 at 2.00 pm in Belgrave
Square, Rathmines, D6 to get practice with the gear and organise a trip all
welcome but mini bus spaces are limited to 9!
Fishing group news-flash