Stephen’s Voice

28/07/2025

This day 9 years ago would be the last any of us would ever see Stephen alive or hear his beautiful voice.

Stephen died following an adverse reaction to a commonly prescribed antidepressant. Tomorrow, on his anniversary, we will remember his death and the awareness it created around and .

Today, we want to celebrate Stephen and his life - his love of music, his sense of humour, his laugh, his kind heart and gentle soul.

My kids never had the chance to meet Stephen, yet they talk about him as if they knew him, their “Uncle Stephen” - a testament to how he is still spoken about every single day in our home. Each of them carries a part of him: in their smiles, their eyes, and in their various wee quirks.

Stephen, in your life you touched so many, and in your death, many more lives were changed.

Through all of us who loved you, you truly live on. 💜

27/07/2025

💜 Credit: You Got That Right

27/07/2025

🕊 Prescribed Harm Awareness Day • 29th July 🕊

Every year, thousands of people worldwide are harmed by medications they were told would help them - sometimes with devastating, lifelong consequences.

Prescribed Harm Awareness Day is about shining a light on these hidden stories: the injuries, losses, and pain that often go unheard.

Your voice matters. By sharing your personal testimony, or the story of someone you love, you help break the silence and reveal the human cost behind the statistics.

These real stories have the power to change minds, challenge systems, and spark real change.

📢 Let’s create a wave of awareness together:
✅ Share your story
✅ Use the hashtags:


Together, our voices can reach further than we ever could alone 💜

27/07/2025

26/07/2025

We were completely shocked and horrified to learn that NHS figures show there were 703 antidepressant prescriptions for ONE YEAR OLDS in England over a recent five year period.

NHS guidance says “anti-depressants are not recommended for under-18s usually, as in rare cases, they can trigger thoughts of su***de and self-harm in this age group.” (We would query the assertion of “rare”)

Writing in BMJ Open, some researchers said that doctors may have interpreted the inclusion of under 18 age group in the NICE guidelines as ‘approval’ for their widespread use, leading to the upward trend in prescriptions.

Professor David Healy told a global health conference that - in 29 paediatric clinical trials of antidepressants - every single one failed to produce an obvious benefit.

He said: "At the same time, in every single one of these trials it has produced more harms than benefits in the sense that it has made children become suicidal who wouldn't have become suicidal if they hadn't been put on these drugs."

With prescribing to very young children, especially 1 year olds, even off label, we would also add our voice to fears the medication could affect brain development.



Further reading and related articles in comment section below 👇

26/07/2025

Sinead O’Connor was left suicidal, suffering mental health breakdowns, and wanting to self harm because of the medication she was prescribed.

Sinead has now revealed doctors misdiagnosed her with bipolar disorder after giving birth eight years ago.

She said: “When my third child was 5 months old I became distressed over something extremely traumatic that happened. At the time I had not been working for some years and was taking care of the three children by myself. and doing a very good job of it too, even if I do say so myself.

“I could possibly have been somewhat post-natal but I was certainly distressed because of the aforementioned traumatic event.”

Sinead has to continue taking the drugs she was prescribed until she can slowly wean herself from them.

She said: “ It is dangerous to stop suddenly or over the course of a year at least.

“This is because of how these drugs affect receptors in your brain. They are the same drugs, some of them, that are used to treat epilepsy.”

And Sinead has revealed that when she cancelled her tour last year it wasn’t because of biopolar disorder as many believed but because she had tried to stop taking her medication cold turkey.

She said: “When I became ill and left the last tour it was because I stopped the drugs too quickly and without medical supervision.
“The illness was in fact what happens when you don’t go about coming off these meds properly.

“I’m delighted to be able to say that after ten years of poisoning myself with these drugs and having to live with the extremely difficult side-effects of them I can shortly begin the very, very slow indeed, process of getting them out of my system and my life and getting my life back.”

https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/doctors-tell-sinead-oconnor-youre-2344863

25/07/2025

Calling all young people 9 to 15.
Mid Ulster Stronger Together and New Dawn Health are excited to announce their summer Social Action Project.
We are delighted to share an overview of our forthcoming programme. We are looking to create a group of 12 young people and work together with them to create a meaningful, youth-led experience anchored in the values of T:BUC (Together: Building a United Community).
Our programme will focus on introductions, relationship-building, and creating a shared understanding of why we’re here and what we hope to achieve through this unique experience.
Activities Include:
Fun, team building, enhancing relationships and communications skills, enhancing compassion and understanding for others.
Why Go? – This is a fun interactive programme for young people aged 9 to 15. it will help with emotional regulation, social skills, lower anxiety, enhance confidence, build success, create new friendships and many more
Initial Social Action Discussion – Introducing the concept of youth-led community action.
The Main programme will run over 5 weeks commencing 12th August and running both Tues and Thurs evenings 6.30pm to 8.30pm based in Hollywood Fitness Cookstown. light refreshments, healthy snack provided.
This programme will centre on youth-led planning, cross-community bonding, good relations building, creative expression, and early development of the social action project.
Following the main programme, our group of young people will continue shaping their Social Action Project, implementing it between October–November 2025 with a final Post-Programme Celebration held by December 2025.
This event will feature photo and video showcases of the journey shared with friends and families, celebrating this achievement and lasting legacy. If you or your young person are interested, please get in touch to secure a place or find out more.
Tel: Niall 07787950731
or drop us a DM.

25/07/2025

What if the story you’ve been told about your mind isn’t the whole story?

Unwinding from the programming given to us from the mental health industry — the labels, the diagnoses, the belief that we’re broken — isn’t easy. But it may be one of the greatest journeys of reclamation we’ll ever take.

Laura Delano, our founder at Inner Compass, went from being a full-time psychiatric patient to building a life rooted in the truth that our bodies are wise, our pain makes sense, and we are far more powerful than we’ve been led to believe.

What beliefs about yourself are you letting go of?

25/07/2025

When Mary met Melanie 😇

Melanie Leahy said:

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟑𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬.

𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐢𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞.”

Also pictured is Mary Gould, who is leading the way in Northern Ireland to push for systemic change following the tragic death of her son, Conall.

Justice for Matthew Leahy No One Left Behind - PPR

24/07/2025

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞....

Every day, thousands of people suffer not from illness itself - but from the very medicines meant to help them.

This is called : devastating, often hidden damage caused by drugs given in good faith, but without full understanding of their risks.

🔍 Long-term side effects ignored.
📊 Clinical trial data kept from public view.
📝 Patient experiences dismissed as “rare” or “imagined.”

Behind every statistic is a real life, a real family, real heartbreak.

It's time to demand:
✅ Truthful data, not hidden risks
✅ Support for those harmed, not silence
✅ Accountability, not excuses

If you believe medicine should heal - not harm - please share this.

Your voice could help protect someone else 💜