ASCERT CEO talks about the work of the addiction charity
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00:00Well, it starts at charity, working with people who have drug or alcohol or mental health
00:18issues. We were set up around 25 years ago, back in 1998, as a community response to concerns
00:26around drug problems within local communities. And we've grown over the last 25 years to
00:31be one of the regional providers in Northern Ireland. We would be delivering a whole range
00:34of services for people of all ages. I actually set the charity up. I was an elected representative
00:41on Lisburn Council, which is one of the local councils in Northern Ireland. And people were
00:46telling me about the, and I was seeing for myself, the impact of drug problems in local
00:52areas. And I brought people together from the community and from statutory agencies
00:57to talk about how we could respond to that. And our decision at the time was that there
01:02needed to be some type of community-based organisation, which was there in order to
01:05be able to support local people.
01:07Well, all of the things that people are experiencing now and have over the last couple of years
01:18have just magnified the problems that they're dealing with. So obviously if people are concerned
01:25or anxious, then sometimes they turn to alcohol or to drugs in some cases, in order to be
01:31able to deal with those things. So the pandemic had a massive effect on people who were drinking
01:37at home, that unregulated drinking during lockdown. And a lot of people, I think, coming
01:44out of the pandemic with problems around alcohol that they didn't have whenever the
01:48pandemic started. And now we're in the throes of a global economic crisis. And the cost
01:58of living, increases that people are experiencing, the energy problems, those things, there are
02:02just more pressures on people. And again, alcohol will be one of the crutches that people
02:07take in order to try and deal with that. So we have more people coming to our services
02:11now than ever.
02:14Well, I think that we're seeing that there's a better acknowledgement now, I suppose, that
02:29particularly around mental health, that, you know, this is something which is a common
02:36problem and people are more openly willing to talk about mental health because they see
02:41it now that it's not necessarily a condition, it's not a medical problem that's diagnosed
02:49in most cases, you know, it's not the same stigma about it. But there is still stigma
02:54because you're still encouraging people to talk about their vulnerabilities, the pressures
02:59that they have to deal with. And that's not a comfortable space for anyone to be in. But
03:04the reality is, is that all of us experience some type of challenges or pressures around
03:09our own mental health at some point within our lives. You can expect that one in five
03:13people will have a mental health problem of some description during their life. When it
03:19comes to alcohol, that's a bit of a different issue, because there's still a bigger stigma
03:24around that. But the reality is, is that, you know, 80% of the population drink alcohol.
03:29Out of those, a significant number of people will drink at levels which are problematic
03:34for them. And, you know, being able to talk about those things before they get more difficult
03:41and worse for them, I think is really important. And a lot, you know, alcohol issues and mental
03:47health issues sometimes go hand in hand. So, you know, I think that we need to encourage
03:53everyone within the community to be able to be, you know, more comfortable and open and
03:57be able to talk about whatever's going on for them and for them to know that there are
04:00support services there that can help them whenever they need it.
04:05Well, I think that, obviously, as we've grown as an organisation, our services have grown
04:13and people have become more aware of us, then that, you know, has helped us connect to people
04:21who need it. The reality is, though, unfortunately, most people only seek help whenever things
04:27get really bad and whenever things have really started to have an impact on their day-to-day
04:32lives. And that's a small part of the population who are perhaps, you know, at that stage where,
04:41you know, things are starting to become a bit difficult, that if they were to be seeking
04:46help at an earlier stage, there's still a point where it's easier to make changes or
04:51to be able to do practical things in order to divert the problem or deal with the problem.
04:56And I think that we still need to do a lot more in order to be able to reach people at
05:02an earlier stage before they had a point where, you know, it gets to a point of crisis.
05:12Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, everyone has challenges and pressures, you know, and
05:18we all cope with them in different ways. But if things are starting to go off in your head,
05:23which is saying, hang on a minute, you know, is this really starting to affect me in some way?
05:28Or perhaps, you know, there's something that, you know, isn't quite right here.
05:33I think we need to encourage people to know that it's okay to put your hand up and say,
05:40I have something going on here that I'm not really even maybe sure that it's a problem,
05:45but can we talk about this? Because there are helping services, there are people who
05:49care, who are there to be able to talk about those things and that can offer support and
05:55guidance. So, you know, it's better to be able to talk about what's going on and see
06:04how you can be supported rather than wait until things get to a point where you really
06:09feel that there's no choice or, you know, that you're really seeing the real difficult
06:14impacts within your life.
06:16Well, I think for a lot of families, you know, whether it's your parent or whether it's
06:29your partner or it's a sibling, that, you know, people don't exist in isolation.
06:35If someone has a problem with their alcohol use, a problem with their mental health,
06:39a problem with drug use, there are people around them who are being affected by that.
06:43People who perhaps don't know what they can do in order to be able to manage the situation
06:47and people who are being affected by it themselves and who have their own needs.
06:51You know, I think that, you know, it's what I'd encourage that, you know, if anyone feels
06:56that, you know, they want someone to talk to, is that there are people there who can
07:01talk to you, who can give you support, advice and perhaps help you work out how you can
07:08best deal with what is going on within your lives because none of us are experts in these
07:12things.
07:14But if we talk about them, you know, problem shares are problem halved, as they say.
07:20So I'd rather that people were seeing that there are helping services there, people you
07:26can talk to early.
07:33I think the key message is that nobody has to do this alone.
07:37If you have people around you who you love, if you have people around you who are part
07:42of your friends or your support network, you know, they are there in order to be a resource
07:48that can help you but they also may be struggling with understanding, you know, how they can
07:54do that.
07:56We do a lot of work with families who are, you know, dealing with what's going on around
08:01someone's alcohol or their drug or mental health issues and even if the person who has
08:05those issues isn't interested or ready to seek help, we can be there in order to talk
08:10to those around them around how they can be supported or how they can be a positive role
08:15in helping that person get to a point where they are willing to seek help.