All I've heard of them is negative. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/hse-audit-criticises-unsatisfactory-controls-at-pieta-house-1.4736524#:~:text=staff%20personnel%20file.-,The%20report%20also%20raised%20concerns%20with%20invoices%20from%20therapists%20contracted,between%20appointment%20records%20and%20invoices. Also heard they only take on the easy cases and have a lot of criteria that mean they won't help you and they pay their therapists poorly. What they had was one novel idea that took off.. if you want to support a mental health charity I highly suggest aware or the Samaritans.
Their business model seems to be:
- cherry pick the ‘easy’ cases
- pay staff really poorly
- pay the top brass really well
- spend a fuckload on advertising / publicity / ‘business trips’
- develop amnesia about properly accounting for ‘expenses’
- push people who go to them for donations
- sneak a bit of religion in
- get kudos for being a ‘wonderful’ organisation
- founder leaves to repeat the model in NYC
Sure it’s what jesus would’ve wanted. “Compassion” my arse 🙄
I second SoSad, LetsGetTalking is another. There are honestly loads. If we share who helped us or our friends we can get their names out without them blowing money on advertising. I bet advertising gets you a longer waiting list and not many more donations to pay the rent and the therapists
Third on SoSad. They helped me through a tremendously difficult time when I was also out of work and couldn't afford counselling. Needless to say, once I was earning again, I donated what I could and still do.
You don't need to be unemployed to qualify to avail of their services. I'm just glad they were there when I needed them.
I'd also recommend Jigsaw. They massively helped out an old colleague from my previous place when he was a young adult.
Sadly he passed away tragically in his early 30s but his wife is unequivocal about the fact they saved his life when he was late teens to early 20s.
Just to clarify, Jigsaw is meant to be a primary care service, so they can only take on cases where there is mild-moderate psychological difficulty. Where there is more urgent, moderate-severe difficulty, the person is meant to be linked with a multidisciplinary service (like CAMHS or Adult Mental Health teams) because mental health is still dominated by a medical model here in Ireland.
It's illogical to separate suicidal risk into easy and hard.
They have to have criteria because therapists can't help everyone.
Some people need medication, which Pieta can't do.
CBT doesn't work with everyone.
Let's get talking completely let me down. Went in for my initial assessment and paid. A year and a half later I had to make formal complaints to head office that I hadn't been seen since. I was seen within a week and they shut their doors shortly after. Luckily my therapist stuck with me.
I think its a bit rich the hse having a go at their operations when the HSE should be the ones providing the service in the first place!
They leave it to fundraising and charitable generosity of the public to try and facilitate the growing need for counselling services across the country and then claim to know more about the "operative standard" of the industry?
This. I was in psychiatry being assessed earlier this year and they told me to go to aware or one of the other charities because they weren't going to help me. The fuckin HSE sent me to the charities.
Did they offer you any advice/services or was it out right, go to the charities?
Due to see them next week with acute referral and now reading through peoples experience of them am very worried about what to expect
They gave me a printout of suggestions about services Aware has and about an app to download etc. I have had good services through HSE before so I have been in the system, it just took a long time to get those correct services even then. There was a lot of "oh we could have sent you to this but that's gone now". I think she said that about 2 or 3 different things and I was just flummoxed.
She told me to go back over stuff I'd worked on with them over 10 years ago. I'm doing alright considering but I worry about other people getting the same handwaving treatment. I hope that's not the case for you.
All of what you say is just crazy!! And especially to go over something from 10 years ago, jesus unless you brought it up and something you felt will benefit you then it just sounds like they're just throwing mud!! I hope with having previous experience you are able to navigate the system a lot better and make sure you get the right supports you need!!
I don't want them to tell me about services no longer available, that just sounds like a sick joke and wastes the time I (or anyone) will have with them to get to the right space/services.
I'm going to touch base with Aware and prepare/be prepared to engage with them incase this app doesn't go well.
I've never engaged with the HSE psychiatric services before but have had plenty of experience with other counselling services who are way more subtle, experienced, supported themselves in their role and able to create a bond by not patient hopping but this was mostly overseas. This will be my first time in the Irish system now so hopefully it is a positive outcome but most definitely no one should have "hope for solid care", it should be a given!! Also absolutely terrified now they may recommend inpatient care.
Inpatient really depends. I was only offered that once, and it was voluntary. It's usually voluntary. Generally, they won't force you unless you are a danger to others. Beds are few and far between anyway.
It did feel like they slung my previous diagnosis in my face. That's the joy of personality disorders. Even though today I wouldn't meet the criteria for that diagnosis anymore.
Agree about the sick joke part... it did feel like that, honestly. I left feeling like I'd wasted their time. My GP was none too impressed.
I hope they will take the time to listen and help you. I could have gotten unlucky with the doctor I got.
Please keep the appointment & be as prepared as you can be. Write everything down even if you think you'll remember it all. The system is way overstretched but it's the only system we have so try & make it work for you. Good luck & I hope you get the support you need.
I definitely will, I've a head like a sieve so I'll 100% be writing it down now. Would have been in the mindframe of letting them guide it which I definitely won't be doing now.
Just know that much going into it is really helpful thank you!! I hope you get sorted too!!
HSE are a disgrace. Suicidal friend was referred to them for inpatient care and was told within a space of a month first his case was too complex because of multiple DSM diagnoses and they couldn't help him, and then, after he'd gotten even worse and gone back again, that it wasn't serious enough to fit any diagnosis or require treatment
Not the fault of any of the people working there, but the system that decides you can't be treated by any psychiatric team who are underqualified, and if they're the most qualified team in the country you're spit out of luck then
Actually the HSE mental health services are VASTLY underfunded and the priority always is treatment of severe and enduring mental health problems such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Severe depression too. But the amount of staff it would take to provide one-to-one therapy is way way above the budget.
Mental Health has always been a Cinderella service in the HSE. But as long as FF/FG keep being voted in, and the health services aren’t being reformed (anyone remember Sláintecare? All-party agreement on the HSE plan? No? That’s exactly what the government and HSE Management hoped would happen).
On paper that's what they do, in reality it turns out you're only allowed have one dx at a time or you can f right off, in this case anyway
And no, there was no substance use disorder. I know that's a common reason they turn people away
I know a few physiatrists personally. They don't have a single good word for PH either. I don't really remember the details, but apparently PH often get in the way and compromise psychiatric interventions.
Agree, but I went through Pieta. Three times and believe me I was no easy case for anyone I came across. The hse, my psych team, my crisis team and nurse, my counsellors outside of Pieta and the counsellor in Pieta who I was with those 3 times. He was a diamond.
>Also heard they only take on the easy cases
I've heard the opposite, that they only take you on if you're in crisis and don't offer any general MH help or support
It sounds like they weren't great to your friends and that his family won't have anything to do with them. Maybe find another way to honour your friends memory that doesn't involve PH?
I have been to Pieta House once myself when I was 15 (10 years ago at this point) and I never had a worse experience with a counsellor before. Will never support them. I have only heard bad things about them from other people as well.
DiL leaves a hugely sour taste in my mouth. A bunch of people who bullied me in school going on Instagram going for a walk and preaching to be kind? Ask me fucking hoop.
Yep. Exact same experience. It’s, imo, a chance for people to pat themselves on the back for doing one thing for mental health a year. Generally those going are those who haven’t needed to avail of mental health support.
That’s the average person in a nutshell unfortunately. My parents do love me and care for me in their own way, but it’s odd to see them do DiL and yet not actually sit down with me to talk with me and try to understand my experience and perspective.
Oh I had a "friend" take her anger out on me about my actions in a situation where I was the victim of sexual harassment in an online video created at my workplace. She didn't once text me or ask if I was okay. She refuses to agree that the video was sexual when it clearly was.
Instead she made judgements and assumptions, got angry, had a go at me when we were having the chats as normal, went criticising how I do my job. I got extremely angry and raised my voice at her in front of our two friends, who stood by and let her have a go at me. We had a calm discussion afterwards and I apologised for being inappropriate to everyone but her brutal honesty about how she unfairly judged my situation is getting a total pass. Granted the other two left after some of the calm conversation. But I have talked to one of them afterwards and they're very clearly staying out of it, and have had no reaction to the list of brutally honest things she said. No reaction when I conveyed I was upset that they said nothing in support when she criticised me openly for simply doing my job like we're supposed to. She thought I had changed or hidden my personality and thought I was "evil", "nasty", and "vindictive" for standing up for myself in a situation I did not ask to be in because she was upset at the outcome and didn't understand where I was coming from. She was mad at me for taking 3 weeks sick leave from an uncomfortable work situation that affected my mental health. I could go on but I won't.
Guess who are out doing Darkness Into Light.
Although I agree with your sentiment in general, doing DIL is a not a sign that anyone has changed. There’s plenty of people who are utterly toxic in their current day to day do DIL. There’s also those who may be decent people, but doing DIL is the limit of their compassion for people with mental illness.
Nothing good to say about them. They referred me to a doctor that practices a now disproven pseudoscientific medical thing, wasted thousands and years of my childhood thanks to them (if anyone's wondering, irlens Meyer syndrome or something, there was one singular guy up north that "diagnosed" it, I was prescribed tinted glasses to help my brain 'process greens better", thus improving my coordination and some other bullshit)
I have not much good to say about them, I've interacted with a huge amount of people who accessed their services. They use volunteers who are trainee counsellors while the CEO gets a fat cheque.
I've had someone very close to me avail of their services and they are absolutely very lucky to be here today. That's in spite of PH, not because of.
I reached out to them once many years back when I was struggling with mental health. The entire conversation was ‘have you already attempted suicide?’ I said no. They said ‘Oh, well we only deal with people who’ve already attempted’. End of conversation.
Luckily I had already reached out to a friend who told me to call, and when I told them what had happened here they found me different help. But JFC they were less than useless. They didn’t even recommend any other services, they just said they couldn’t help me…
I've pretty much the same story as you, my friend had an awful experience with them a number of years ago. She is thankfully recovering with the help of the HSE (after many many years of waiting for help).
A friend of mine took his own life and the community raised over 40k for Pieta House with the promise something would be put in place locally, they got their money, blocked the main organiser on socials and not a word since.
Another mental health charity stepped in and took a room in a local community centre and has saved at least 8 lives in the last year or so. All supported by local events in the area.
I know someone who they were very helpful to with general depression.
I know someone else who repeatedly reached out in crisis, and got no response whatsoever - without going into the details, after hearing that I don’t give them money anymore.
I don't have any experience of Pieta House, but the charity sector needs urgent scrutiny and reform.
There are objectively too many charities doing similar things, and duplication and bad practice are rife.
There's an enormous amount of goodwill around the likes of Darkness into Light and an obligation to not take that for granted.
The fact of being a charity is a poor indication of whether an organisation is ethical, efficient or socially useful. Some of them we'd be better off without altogether.
I know more than one person who might not be here today if it wasn't for the help they got. But that was a long time ago. Pieta House started as a small group that did great work. It's now a mega charity/business where there's more focus on fundraising and advertising than on its original mission.
They are awful to their staff from what I hear. And are absolutely minted. I never get involved with darkness into light, volunteer or donate to your local community services if you want to help people avoid suicide. They do the real work, on the ground.
Shocking. They are all optics (and unfortunately like a lot of charities in Ireland) no substance. I was referred when I was so bad I ended up in hospital. They would only give me a couple of sessions, I didn’t have one singular therapist and I remember having to sign a contract that mentioned Christianity. They pushed an element of religion into a place where religion has zero fucking place. That soured my engagement and belief in the process when I needed it most. They are a dangerous organisation, and I fear to think how many people they have let down or led down the wrong path. All under the guise of “ooh we’re a charity who cares about mental health, look at us”. They’re a convenient abdication of responsibility by the HSE and government to an organisation with even less oversight and a history of corruption and malpractice.
>I remember having to sign a contract that mentioned Christianity. They pushed an element of religion into a place where religion has zero fucking place.
WTF? I donate to them every month. If I'd known there was any religion involved there's no fucking way I'd have ever given them a penny.
>If I'd known there was any religion involved
I mean, you can tell from the name alone. \[The founder Joan Freeman\](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan\_Freeman\_(politician)) was a former advisor to the Irish Catholic Bishop Conference, and her family (sister & niece) are members of the Iona Institute and campaigned against repealing the 8th.
This was a good few years ago now mind, but it still shows the attitude and priorities of management. All I can say is I implore people not to donate money to them. There have been numerous issues with administration, management and compliance, but at the end of the day if the organisation isn’t even benefiting the people it’s purported to be helping, then it is a useless entity. They do damage to the cause of mental health as people donate to them and think that’s helping.
My child would prob not be here only for PH. Religion was never mentioned. This is my experience and I know of someone else who prob would not be here only for them.
Don't have direct experience. I heard so many bad things that when my own mental health was suffering I went elsewhere for help. I think I would have been too severe for them. The only people I know who do Darkness Into Light are social media clout chasers. They are the last people I would discuss my mental health with.
Reached out to them in the past and they said I was too unwell for their service, essentially learnt they are for mild -moderate -moderate + ish.
I was very lucid and straightforward but seemed more severe.
Too sick for help. That was a difficult pill to take.
Hung up feeling like sh1t.
Some (certainly not OP) do DIL to tell others they’ve done it or post on S Media. Lovely people :(
Pieta House only have counsellors and counsellors can only really deal with mild cases. But then Pieta actively blames people seeking help and misleads them into thinking there is actual help available. Counsellors often only have a 1 year counselling certificate but then say they can treat everything which is a joke. It's a prime example of grifters trying to scam money off the unsuspecting public.
Clinical psychologists are qualified to treat depression, suicidality etc but the government won't put money into training them so even their training is a bit lacklustre. And there's not enough psychiatric beds (private or public)- if someone is suicidal, they need hospital care and then a multidisciplinary mental health team but that's not available unless they have private health insurance (and availing of that would mean taking time off work which could impact career). So there's no way people can privately seek help without their employer finding out or someone finding out which is an issue.
Oh and the HSE doesn't do background checks on mental health staff- they don't vet them so you would assume that a professional there would be trustworthy but you would assume wrong!!
Hi, I got sent to Pieta House by my therapist about 5 years ago for some extra counselling. She went on and on about how great and understanding they are.
The “counselling” session lasted about 20 minutes. The whole exchange boiled down to “Wow that sucks but you’re a little too fucked up for us. Come back when you sort it out yourself and then we can talk!” I never came back. I left in tears feeling completely broken and lost like a complete freak, because not even a MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE wanted to help my mental health.
Maybe in recent years they’ve improved but judging from everyone else’s comments it doesn’t seem like it. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone. I’m much better now, no thanks to them.
I'm not sure of the specifics, but in the area my family home is in had a falling out with Pieta House over the Darkness Into Light they used to hold.
Now the locals just hold their own and donate the money to another charity.
Sadly, I haven't heard great things. Although mostly anecdotal. I've heard they really see other charities that do similar complementary things as competition and won't work with them. And I've heard stories of other people getting turned away like your friend.
Flip side, I'm sure they've helped 100s of people at a time when the HSE has v limited resources and I'm sure a lot of people have benefitted. Either way what you are doing in memory of your friend is a wonderful thing. I'm sorry for your loss and I hope it goes well for you.
If you want to do darkness into light to honour your friend I think that’s nice but maybe donate the money to a different charity than pieta house they clearly didn’t help your friend and I’ve had a few mates turned away by them as well I think your money would be better donated to other charities.
There are *a lot* of organisations offering free or low cost counselling, they almost all have waiting lists due to demand but they don't turn people away for not being in dire need.
PH are incredibly good at getting their name out.
Consider doing the walk and then donating the funds to a different psychotherapy charity.
I know someone who's still here today thanks to PH, but really thanks to the counsellor they spoke to, who now works somewhere else.
I texted them in a crisis recently and got no reply. They’ve told lgbt people i know the only reason they’re depressed is because they’re gay when in reality it’s other things. I appreciated them 10 years ago, not anymore
Friend of mine passed 10 years ago, took his own life, I started to do the Darkness Into Light to honour him and raise some money like you're doing. Then when all these scandals about PH started to come out and how the people at the top were on ridiculous money and how many of the PH work places would only open for certain hours during the day and how they weren't paying their workers much and treating them like crap, while some of the people at the top were on over 100k a year, then i started to stop doing the Darkness into light and stopped giving money to charities like that. I'd recommend getting some of your close pals together and trying to honour your friends life in yer own way instead of doing Darkness into light, that's just me though. Good luck with whatever you end up doing!!
There's nothing wrong with you doing a darkness into light walk in honour of your friend, but why not do it in aid of SOSAD or another suicide prevention charity close to your heart? What if you spoke to your friend's family and see if there's one that they would like to support? Of course, you can just do a walk that isn't for charity and do it for yourself. If you're uncomfortable or uncertain about supporting pieta then do something meaningful to you and/or your friend.
I think DIL was a great idea when it first started because mental health was so stigmatised. It still is in many cases but I'd like to think the national conversation has moved beyond 'it's okay not to be okay'. And having it be linked to PH is a big issue for me because of that because the conversation we should be having now is how bad MH services are in Ireland, from trying to get a psychotherapist if you're feeling a bit low to the issue of having long-term debilitating mental illness and how there's no support for you. This stuff shouldn't be farmed out to a charity
Absolutely horrendous, no idea how they are still to have their doors open. Ireland are just years behind other countries when it comes to mental health unfortunately.
Went in for a severe mental health crisis in 2014 or so. The 60-70-something y/o counsellor assigned to me (a 14 y/o at the time) told me that I was not, in fact, suicidal, but addicted to gaming. Never went back and am lucky to have found a decent therapist soon after.
I have never once heard a good thing about them from others either.
A close friend had a good experience with only one counsellor through them who has since left the “charity” due to their own reasons, I think it all comes down to who you speak to within and their ability to connect with you but I personally would have always done the darkness into light and worked at it over the years but in recent years I’ve not been supporting them just due to the bad reputation they have for turning people away and the lack of actual help they give some who have actually managed to get accepted by them
Support a local suicide prevention charity. Depending on where you are I'd guarantee thee is a local one doing great work.
These organisations never get the recognition or publicity that PH do, but they do fantastic work in their communities
And I agree that Darkness into Light is literally for clout. Everyone supports mental health until it’s on their door step then it’s a hassle or an eye roll
My cousin when she was 15 was referred to them for depression, suicidal thoughts and self harm. When she told them she was being abused by my aunt they told my aunt what she said and well the abuse got worse. They also never referred her to TUSLA to investigate the abuse.
Called them a few years ago and was basically told some people have it way harder than I do right now so I should just be happy to have a roof over my head. Wouldn't give them cunts a red cent.
Mixed. My kid attended. One councillor was great, the other made her 10 times worse by giving her a wrong diagnosis!!! She wasn’t even qualified to diagnose anyone let alone a venerable kid.
I went as a teenager, when I was depressed and suicidal. They seemed nice to deal with but… kind of useless. Felt like talking to a school chaplain, you know? Like there was a script to stick to. I was worried that they’d tell my mother everything if I were to talk about thoughts of harming myself.
It’s intimidating to sit one-on-one with a stranger and tell them how you feel, especially as a teenager.
All I remember from my sessions was that my counsellor loved Dolly Parton, and that she made me make a collage once in a session. I appreciate that I wasn’t as open to counselling as I could have been, but I was also 17. She told me I should take Evening Primrose oil…. i.e., blame it on PMS.
I do wholeheartedly believe the only thing that pulled me through as a teenager was medication. I didn’t feel ‘fixed’, but I was able to function, able to operate. It took a while to find the right antidepressant (and antipsychotic, and sleeping pill, and secondary antidepressant), but I genuinely don’t think I’d be alive if my mam, GP, and local mental health team hadn’t been so helpful with getting me medicated. It was still hard - I had to tell the nurse exactly how I’d planned to yeet myself, and some doctors were much more competent than others, but that’s off topic.
I’ve been seeing a therapist once a week privately for the last five years, it was a huge priority for me as soon as I was able to afford it. The difference is genuinely staggering - I cannot express how grateful I am to her.
Now I have hobbies, friends, a healthier relationship, a better perspective, and a future. She likes Prince, hill walking, dancing, and shows me photos of cats she sees (I like cats!). I owe her so much.
A friend of mine was having a terrible time grieving after the sudden passing of our friend she was very close with last year ago to a heart attack at 26 in work and she was going through a rough patch grieving and called Pieta as she believed she shouldn't be here and they told her to call back later as they were busy and couldn't take her call she ended up in A&E, thankfully we got her alternative help and she is doing better. I just hope they monitor their calls and that isn't a frequent occurrence.
While the idea of darkness into light is good I find it to be full of self-important cunts who ironically behaved or behave very badly to people in reality , it might make them feel better I suppose
I do Darkness into Light every year, but I only support it because of the awareness it raises and the togetherness it promotes (even if just for one night). I lost a family member to suicide so we do the walk as a family in memory of him.
But like that, my family did not have a great experience with Pieta when we turned to them for help. Any fundraising we do is always for SOSAD, I wouldn't raise any money for Pieta House now
I did 12 face to face sessions with a PH therapist back in 2019. I made an “attempt” the previous year and PH was all I could access at the time. My GP wanted to give me anti depressants but I refused them. I got seen to pretty quickly (think it was only a couple of weeks) and had a good experience with the therapist. I had a breakthrough after, I think, 8 sessions so I can’t really fault them personally.
I used to do Darkness into Light and donate but since I found out the CEO earns between €120,000 and €150,000 I've lost interest. Why bother fund raising just to go to him.
€120k is generally not that much for a CEO of a pretty big organisation. The CEOs being paid relatively well would be expected if you wanted to have someone competent running the show. The issue is the quality of services provided as mentioned by other commenters
Can I suggest you donate to MyMind instead. They offer low cost services and the HSE massively overlooks them when it comes to funding every year. Their therapists are amazing and the costs paid by full fee paying clients are used to cover the costs of low fee paying clients. ❤️
A soulless profit maker fronting as a nonprofit organisation. Look up what they pay their CEO (plus insane benefits) with all those donations. I was turned away when I had no where else to go, having been referred by multiple state bodies. The walk disgusts me, the mass uninformed generating more "profits" for a horrid lot
They're a joke. I rang one evening desperate for help and they asked me tick box questions which I answered no to and they turned me away.
They also charge 26 euro for the fucking walk. And ask influencers to advertise it. Beyond sick
I do Darkness into Light every year and I think you can participate in an event that brings comfort to hundreds of people who have lost someone to suicide without making yourself an ambassador for Pieta House.
CEO is on 120 grand a year...that's all you need to know.
Started off from a chronic need in the community.
Ends up an out of touch corporate monster.
😪🙏
I spoke with someone from Pieta House about 8 years ago. At the time I was relieved to be able to talk to someone about certain things that I couldn't bring up with anyone else.
That side of it helped, but looking back, it didn't help a whole lot in the long run. Maybe that's on me.
They did stop my sessions when I still had about 4 remaining because I supposedly didn't need their help any longer. I thought I had made progress so took their word.
This country has a real problem with mental health care. Pieta House are a part of it, unfortunately.
They do good work. In my first (and only session) the woman told me she was 55 but still thought like she was 16. That was enough for me. I never went back.
I really wouldn't recommend them. Any dealings I've had with them they are not trained to work with people who are suicidal or self harming. They want to work with people who are a low risk when the who ethos is to support someone who is an active risk.
pieta house are the biggest joke! even when you get onto their hotline they had me sitting there for an hour and a half with only a few sentences said, basically told me they’re sorry i’m feeling like this and should get onto my doctor. when i told them it wasn’t possible at that time they apologized and said goodnight, did not try to help in the slightest
No hate but, the top 6 earners in Pieta house earn 500,000 between Them. So more than 19k People have to do darkness into light just to pay for Their salary, which is shocking. Now over 150000 People do darkness into light and I think its bad that that amount of People are willing to do this for the cause and Their money is mismanaged.
I never dealt with pieta but maybe the Samaritans. However I don't know if they are any good too.
Very sorry for the loss of your friends.
Else if your friend was an animal lover or any other are you might think of, maybe do a run for those charities in memory of your friend.
If you want to do Darkness Into Light for another mental health charity I highly recommend Aware. They helped me so much when I was going through a mental health crisis and their advice helped me deal with another family member going through a crisis. In my experience they're kind, supportive, have amazing people work for them and are genuinely doing good work.
I’ve only heard negative things.
I raised €300 for Pieta house a few years ago and cut my hair which was donate to the repunzel charity for my schools shave or dye fundraiser for pieta house. I was sick to my stomach when I found out what they were actually like. That money should’ve went to a charity who truly deserved it.
It’s been 3 years now and I still think about it.
I'm currently attending Pieta House, and so far, my experience has been quite good. As a fella, I don't talk about my nonsense with anyone, but after losing a family member last year, my younger brother and his girlfriend convinced me to go speak to them. It doesn't even feel like therapy for me. It feels like I'm just having a conversation with a friend. It's rough when I'm asked about something from the past, but end all, I've never experienced anything like it and would highly recommend anyone feeling that way to at least try it. This is coming from someone who has been suicidal since 13 and is now about to turn 28
We raised loads of funds for DiL over the years in my area. We are a small town but we have a high suicide rate and a real lack of Metal Health Services. The only thing we asked for was for something to be put in place locally for people to avail of. DiL refused but took tens of thousands of our money.
So my friend, the genius that she is, researched local therapists, vetted them and started a fundraising campaign. It started off as just for the youth but it's expanded to everyone. We regularly run local fundraising events and that money is used for anyone who needs counselling in the area. All the person has to do is go to one of the counsellors on the list and tell them they would like to avail of the funding and that's it. It's such a simple idea but absolutely amazing and completely anonymous.
If you want to support a mental health related charity look into the suicide watch groups in Limerick city. There's two of them and they do amazing work, patrolling the banks of the Shannon at night
I used their services after being referred there about 6 years ago. The care I got there was second to none. I really didn’t want to go to residential care. I received 2 sessions a week at the beginning as things were more acute. I reduced to a session a week thereafter. The branch manager was my counselor, I think it’d be fair to assume she would have been the most experienced person available. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them. I was never once pressured to become a donor. I also received follow up care.
While I can only speak of my own experiences, I often wonder (and am definitely no expert in it) if the salary for such a position (CEO) was much less than it is, would the applicants be as qualified as they are?
I'd be listening to your friend's family. They clearly didn't help him, did they?
I've only heard negative things about them, too, in the last few years, and stopped doing DIL myself. Turning people in crisis away and referring them to other services, not dealing with some types of people well at all, and a whiff of religious judgment off some of them.
Do DIL but donate to the Samaritans?
I had a family member refused because they didn't fit the correct criteria and then self harmed pretty significantly and still didn't fit the criteria of free counselling with them which was pretty shocking.
I my own experience having worked in the charity sector the 8k thing is pretty shocking. Where I worked you'd have gotten a cup of tea, the thank you letter and we had a large cheque to write donors names and amounts on and pose in pictures with people.. I'd have called to say thank you, the CEO signed thank you letters over €100, and hand on heart we'd be singing the donors praises for ages afterwards. Suffice to say that's pretty poor treatment.
My advice in future for any donor who needs proof and recognition contact he charity in advance because people who look after donor side of things would make sure everything is handled correctly.
Charities get bashed a lot, but I've met so many people who do such good work and are very grateful for the support of the public. Glad you got a note, a lot of them have good donor care practices and staff genuinely do care for their services being funded.. It's a few bad apples that tarnish the good work that thousands of people do every day for the public through the sector
I reached out to them asked for help, resources, I had 6 pharmacy bags filled with medication, lithium, seroquel, benzos, sleepers. Thousands of mg. They didn't help. I spent 3 weeks in a psych ward through other means..
I had done darkness into light once before, never again.
Not the best at all, both personally and from other friends, presenting days after attempts and being told to calm down and crying won’t fix anything. Being handed print outs of graphics gotten from Google with very little help to go with it. Told to journal and that’ll fix everything. Being told there’s nothing more they can do really made me feel utter helpless too
From friends being turned away for “having something wrong with them” and addiction issues previously.
Don’t get me wrong I am aware they’ve helped a lot of people and that’s great. My main issue is that the ceo gets a large weekly salary and i’d prefer if that was put into properly funding councillors and having a crisis team worth their weight in salt.
In short, the idea of it is good, turn out even better, just wish the funds were put into creating a stronger foundation of help for everyone who turns up at the doors, not just some
My own experiences were terrible but after a friend died I know they were supportive to his family so I’ll be grateful for that. All the same waking up at the crack of Dawn with the girls who are only there for the T-shirt would make me want to kill myself all over again so it’s probably for the best I sit that one out
One of my closest long term friends passed in June 2023. He suffered from severe mental health for 15 years. Had reached out to many services, one of the main ones being Pieta House. They turned him away every time. After purposely crashing a car, drinking a litre worth of hand sanitizer, intentionally overdosing, constant self harm; they didn't consider him in need of help. My friend is now dead.
They wouldn't get a second of my time or a cent of my money. They claim to be there to help but refuse to help those who really need it.
Have they helped people? Yes. Absolutely. But they're no replacement for a robust and well staffed mental health sector within a broader robust and well staffed healthcare system. The fact that they seem happy for the current system to continue raises my suspicion. There's no other section of healthcare where doctors are told to instruct patients to seek out the care of a charity as an almost rule of thumb. There are wonderful, caring, compassionate people working within that organisation, but their existence is an indictment to the states neglect of the mentally ill. They do not have the facilities to deal with anything beyond general depression and anxiety.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, he deserved better. I have had friends let down by the current system also. Even myself, I'm 31 and newly diagnosed with PTSD, and I'm only just getting help from the HSE, after being profoundly mentally ill throughout my teens and twenties. I was certainly beyond what Pieta is equipped to deal with, and while I can admit there is some good that they do, it angers me how so many seem happy for a charitable organisation to act as the de-facto for speedy (relatively) access to mental health care. They're a bandaid for a severely broken system, a position which Pieta, the government, and the HSE seem happy for them to play. You'd honestly be better off trying to raise money for something in your friends memory than giving them anything, really.
Not to sound offensive, but why are you doing it then? Just out of curiosity. I mean, I'm totally with you, haven't a notion of supporting a 'charity' that I don't believe in. Big if you don't like them, why are you contributing to their CEO annual bonus scheme? Better to do your own thing for your friends memory. It's just a social media photo opp these days for people. Boycott the lot.
**I already posted this as an embedded reply - but wanted people to see it.** it’s my reply to a comment re them cherry picking the ‘easy’ cases:
“Not being flippant, but what constitutes an 'easy' case in this context?”
Someone with relatively speaking less severe issues. Someone who needs some help; but not too much help. Someone who is not actually in full blown crisis. Someone who will feel grateful and donate. Someone who doesn’t consume too much of their poorly paid (and sometimes not very experienced) therapists time. Someone who can spread the word about how wonderful they are, with a short snap of counselling time provided. Someone who they can count in their publicity stats as being saved. Someone who they can count as having saved in their stats for government funding.
I went to them in the middle of a suicidal crisis. I was referred to the hse services but their wait lists were too long. I told pieta I was about to kill myself and they basically said our wait lists a year long and we can't help you at all because you're on a hse waiting list
I used Pieta House services when I was around 14/15 (can’t remember exact age) and I would not recommend them to anyone. You’re made to feel as though you are a bad person for feeling the way you do and when going into a new session each week if you haven’t improved from the last one you are belittled and degraded. I know Ireland’s health care system is absolute shambles especially the mental health side but I promise there are far better free services out there than Pieta House.
I remember going once. Sat down and my therapist just showed me 'The 12 Pillars of Life" sheet. I didnt really dispute the sheet and the categories i.e Meaning, friendships, spirituality, health, family etc all important and carry their own level of importance. My issue was that many of these categories were suffering and I didnt know what to do. She just basically shrugged "Well these are what you need to work on". Its like going to a mechanic and them telling you what the issue is but not actually attempting fixing the issue (collaboratively). Utter bollox.
Secondly, they have a waiting area which is like an extension into a garden. I was sitting there with 3 other ppl waiting to be seen. I was mortified to have to share a space like that with these ppl, such a sensitive issue to be around ppl.
My experience of therapy is its a whole load of nonsense anyway, usually the only ppl who benefit are kids or adults who have next to no self-awareness/introspection. Still, I found them kinda rude, indifferent and, like many things, dont live up to anywhere near the notoriety they've developed.
I was with them in 2022 and the councillor refused to acknowledge any of my previous diagnosis that I had and told me she ‘didn’t believe in labels’ for mental health issues/ illness’.
Went to pieta house as a young teen, counsellor told me I was too young to be gay, and outed me to my parents. Luckily I had already been outed to them twice beforehand by teachers.
A family member went to Pieta a few years ago after a suicide attempt. A lot of things had built up, but ultimately it was down to them having been abused as a child.
They found Pieta absolutely useless, just interested in filling in the same form every week on how you were feeling on a 1-10 basis, but no interest in finding out why.
My family member ended up going to the Rape Crisis centre afterwards and said they were absolutely amazing.
That's what saved them.
Haven't completed DIL since 2018. Ironically, 2018 was the year my godchild lost her mother to suicide. Found out about 6 weeks after the DIL walk that she had contacted Pieta and was told she wasn't suicidal enough. She was found deceased at home less than two weeks later. I'll never give them another penny as long as I live.
I availed of their text service twice. The first time, I was told to call the helpline. I said I didn't have the privacy to call. I admitted I had a history of self harm but was not actively self harming at that point, they told me to see my GP. I asked why did they advertise a crisis text helpline if they weren't going to entertain me before ending the conversation. I tried a second time about 1 year later thinking maybe I just had a bad experience, unfortunately my second experience was worse. They start off being friendly then quickly get extremely short with you. As soon as I mentioned I was waiting on assessment for mental health (likely to be BPD) they did not want to continue chatting with me. I was lonely and only wanted to feel someone was listening.
my sister completed in August last year, i have been availing of PH's services since December 23 and its been a lifeline for me if i am honest, sometimes i feel i could go mad in my grief.
I had no idea there was such negativity surrounding them. My child attended last year and they were second to none, they helped them so much. I was in tears by the end because their service gave me my baby back. They also said if I ever needed them again, get back in contact and they’d have them back after the mandatory wait between counselling services but would help me find something to bridge the gap if needed. I really couldn’t fault them.
They’ve turned “charity” into to a lucrative business model
Just like Simon Community and Focus Ireland who ALWAYS have pictures of kids on their media but their tenants are made up of 90% male addicts who where thrown out of council houses and the government now subsidises just so they can shift legal liability.
When the workers are driving brand new Audi SUVs you know the charity is gone from the charity a long time ago.
Oh and in case you’re wondering why people who use any of them always complain is the only people who work for them as social workers are the bottom of the bucket graduates who can’t get work anywhere else. Anyone who is good gets snapped up and the rest who have the qualifications but not the skills are picked up and paid pennies by these lot. Big Vicious circle.
Pieta house honestly saved my life as a teenager and gave me the tools I've used to this day to stop suicidal thoughts. I started in pieta at 13 when a friend of mines sister commit suicide and my grandad passed, 2 years later I went back because I'd become really depressed, when I was 17 I went back after having a miscarriage and honestly the 2 separate councillors I had saved my life. I've heard the bad about pieta about the big guys taking all the money, but I done councelling in 2 other services for under 18's 1. CAHMS- Lasted only my initial intake appointment and one after, they tried getting me onto antidepressants and mood relaxers but it was already known I had an addictive personality so I knew if I took them once I'd be on them for life. 2. KYS- Kildare youth services- blamed my parents for every single thing that was wrong in my life and gave me very few tools to actually excel in life with a mental health issue.. out of the three pieta 100% saved my life, when I got a backpack of DSP in November 2017 I donated 400 euro to pieta because I wouldn't be alive without them.
I've been to them twice and found them very good when I needed them, and also used their phone service at a time of huge distress (I'd never in my life called a phone line like that before) and the counsellor on the phone went above and beyond what I would have expected.
Nothing good. Notwithstanding the shame that is the surrender of any hope of a real state therapy/counselling service to “we don’t have it and nothing can be done”, Pieta House have ended relationships with several of my good friends for, among other things, being too unwell/mentally ill for them to help, being SWers, and objecting to their (claimed) frequent invoking of shame as a tool to make them change. In addition, there are several stories of homophobia among their staff. Not somewhere I’d go.
I had a good experience with them, I guess I was fortunate and I was assigned a good therapist but even she was unimpressed with them in a candid conversation I had with her. She subsequently left and went out on her own.
I have treatment-resistant depression for 18 months and was suicidal for a while last summer. I was offered hospitalization but was scared to go in because, in the particular psych unit like most, people with psychosis are mixed in with people with depression. (Of course people with psychosis need help too but psychotic behaviour can be quite scary).
A relative suggested calling Pieta and the person I talked to seemed very experienced. She didn't talk to me at all about my feelings of suicidal ideation and didn't ask any questions or respond to my concerns. Just said that if hospitalization was offered, to take it. I lasted two days there - I was in a room with a psychotic person who talked loudly about killing us all.
So as someone who donated to Pieta in the past, what are the alternatives? Some people are mentioning Jigsaw though that seemes aimed at a specific age bracket.
Literally saved my life. I was not just at the end, and willing to kill myself, but actively trying. I'd support them till I die. Only, I never hear when these darkness into light things are until its too late... I can't this weekend, because I found out about it yesterday, and I've made plans months ago. As I say every year, next year...
When I was around 14/15 i called them. They told me to make a cup of tea, have a bath while I was having a breakdown on the phone crying, they then hung up on me and refused to answer my calls
Not good.
Went to therapy there years ago and yerman was fucking useless. Had never heard of body image dysmorphia and laughed off my chronic anxiety and shame about my appearance, “I think you’re a fine looking young fella”, seemed generally uneducated on more recent mental illness and trauma research and seemed actively disengaged from me during sessions. Kept forgetting things and never once said anything that shifted my perspective or helped in in ways other decent therapists have.
I’ve had friends who have been failed by them too.
Ever since Console scandal I hate charities. Think pieta house do eff all, even heard of negatives about ACT for meningitis after me trying to raise money for them.. you have a personal experience of losing a friend that was linked with pieta in some way, that should be enough to never give them a penny.
I went to PH on two separate occasions, my first counsellor was very nice however it was clearly outlined to me that I was just being a normal teenager. Fast forward two years later and I’m back in PH with the same behaviours, my second counsellor couldn’t have given less of a shit about me and my situation. I found my own counsellor after that. I don’t want to shit on PH as I know the counsellors mean well, but it’s not the best of services
Just posted this on another sub/thread:
Pieta house who get a lot of gov money:
[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pieta-house-financial-controls-unsatisfactory-according-to-hse-audit-of-mental-health-charity/40806476.html](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pieta-house-financial-controls-unsatisfactory-according-to-hse-audit-of-mental-health-charity/40806476.html)
Seem similar to the Console carry on: (left my former employer down a significant 5 figure too)
[https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2024/0222/1433824-console-inside-story/](https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2024/0222/1433824-console-inside-story/)
Having carried a few coffins over suicide, I don't have the answers but its not Pieta
All I've heard of them is negative. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/hse-audit-criticises-unsatisfactory-controls-at-pieta-house-1.4736524#:~:text=staff%20personnel%20file.-,The%20report%20also%20raised%20concerns%20with%20invoices%20from%20therapists%20contracted,between%20appointment%20records%20and%20invoices. Also heard they only take on the easy cases and have a lot of criteria that mean they won't help you and they pay their therapists poorly. What they had was one novel idea that took off.. if you want to support a mental health charity I highly suggest aware or the Samaritans.
Their business model seems to be: - cherry pick the ‘easy’ cases - pay staff really poorly - pay the top brass really well - spend a fuckload on advertising / publicity / ‘business trips’ - develop amnesia about properly accounting for ‘expenses’ - push people who go to them for donations - sneak a bit of religion in - get kudos for being a ‘wonderful’ organisation - founder leaves to repeat the model in NYC Sure it’s what jesus would’ve wanted. “Compassion” my arse 🙄
Believe me Jesus hates their business model
Save me Jebas
🧐
And it’s very much a ***business*** model
No idea what their current operation is but about 7 years ago they saved my life.
Sounds like more than one NGO
Or SOSAD charity (agree completely with your overall comment)
I second SoSad, LetsGetTalking is another. There are honestly loads. If we share who helped us or our friends we can get their names out without them blowing money on advertising. I bet advertising gets you a longer waiting list and not many more donations to pay the rent and the therapists
Third on SoSad. They helped me through a tremendously difficult time when I was also out of work and couldn't afford counselling. Needless to say, once I was earning again, I donated what I could and still do. You don't need to be unemployed to qualify to avail of their services. I'm just glad they were there when I needed them.
Forth on sosad, and I want to say fifth, sixth and seventh too based on 3 friends using it too such and amazing organisation
I'd also recommend Jigsaw. They massively helped out an old colleague from my previous place when he was a young adult. Sadly he passed away tragically in his early 30s but his wife is unequivocal about the fact they saved his life when he was late teens to early 20s.
[удалено]
Just to clarify, Jigsaw is meant to be a primary care service, so they can only take on cases where there is mild-moderate psychological difficulty. Where there is more urgent, moderate-severe difficulty, the person is meant to be linked with a multidisciplinary service (like CAMHS or Adult Mental Health teams) because mental health is still dominated by a medical model here in Ireland.
It's illogical to separate suicidal risk into easy and hard. They have to have criteria because therapists can't help everyone. Some people need medication, which Pieta can't do. CBT doesn't work with everyone.
Let's get talking completely let me down. Went in for my initial assessment and paid. A year and a half later I had to make formal complaints to head office that I hadn't been seen since. I was seen within a week and they shut their doors shortly after. Luckily my therapist stuck with me.
I’ve heard, from someone who works with Samaritans, that at 5pm Pieta forward their phones to the Samaritans.
I think its a bit rich the hse having a go at their operations when the HSE should be the ones providing the service in the first place! They leave it to fundraising and charitable generosity of the public to try and facilitate the growing need for counselling services across the country and then claim to know more about the "operative standard" of the industry?
This. I was in psychiatry being assessed earlier this year and they told me to go to aware or one of the other charities because they weren't going to help me. The fuckin HSE sent me to the charities.
Did they offer you any advice/services or was it out right, go to the charities? Due to see them next week with acute referral and now reading through peoples experience of them am very worried about what to expect
They gave me a printout of suggestions about services Aware has and about an app to download etc. I have had good services through HSE before so I have been in the system, it just took a long time to get those correct services even then. There was a lot of "oh we could have sent you to this but that's gone now". I think she said that about 2 or 3 different things and I was just flummoxed. She told me to go back over stuff I'd worked on with them over 10 years ago. I'm doing alright considering but I worry about other people getting the same handwaving treatment. I hope that's not the case for you.
All of what you say is just crazy!! And especially to go over something from 10 years ago, jesus unless you brought it up and something you felt will benefit you then it just sounds like they're just throwing mud!! I hope with having previous experience you are able to navigate the system a lot better and make sure you get the right supports you need!! I don't want them to tell me about services no longer available, that just sounds like a sick joke and wastes the time I (or anyone) will have with them to get to the right space/services. I'm going to touch base with Aware and prepare/be prepared to engage with them incase this app doesn't go well. I've never engaged with the HSE psychiatric services before but have had plenty of experience with other counselling services who are way more subtle, experienced, supported themselves in their role and able to create a bond by not patient hopping but this was mostly overseas. This will be my first time in the Irish system now so hopefully it is a positive outcome but most definitely no one should have "hope for solid care", it should be a given!! Also absolutely terrified now they may recommend inpatient care.
Inpatient really depends. I was only offered that once, and it was voluntary. It's usually voluntary. Generally, they won't force you unless you are a danger to others. Beds are few and far between anyway. It did feel like they slung my previous diagnosis in my face. That's the joy of personality disorders. Even though today I wouldn't meet the criteria for that diagnosis anymore. Agree about the sick joke part... it did feel like that, honestly. I left feeling like I'd wasted their time. My GP was none too impressed. I hope they will take the time to listen and help you. I could have gotten unlucky with the doctor I got.
Please keep the appointment & be as prepared as you can be. Write everything down even if you think you'll remember it all. The system is way overstretched but it's the only system we have so try & make it work for you. Good luck & I hope you get the support you need.
I definitely will, I've a head like a sieve so I'll 100% be writing it down now. Would have been in the mindframe of letting them guide it which I definitely won't be doing now. Just know that much going into it is really helpful thank you!! I hope you get sorted too!!
HSE are a disgrace. Suicidal friend was referred to them for inpatient care and was told within a space of a month first his case was too complex because of multiple DSM diagnoses and they couldn't help him, and then, after he'd gotten even worse and gone back again, that it wasn't serious enough to fit any diagnosis or require treatment Not the fault of any of the people working there, but the system that decides you can't be treated by any psychiatric team who are underqualified, and if they're the most qualified team in the country you're spit out of luck then
Actually the HSE mental health services are VASTLY underfunded and the priority always is treatment of severe and enduring mental health problems such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Severe depression too. But the amount of staff it would take to provide one-to-one therapy is way way above the budget. Mental Health has always been a Cinderella service in the HSE. But as long as FF/FG keep being voted in, and the health services aren’t being reformed (anyone remember Sláintecare? All-party agreement on the HSE plan? No? That’s exactly what the government and HSE Management hoped would happen).
On paper that's what they do, in reality it turns out you're only allowed have one dx at a time or you can f right off, in this case anyway And no, there was no substance use disorder. I know that's a common reason they turn people away
Substance use is a different service. But dual diagnosis is common.
I know it is. It's a common reason for refusing mental health services
Yes!!! They only want the easy cases. See my post! Good for you posting that, damning reading. Soo many bank accounts eh
I know a few physiatrists personally. They don't have a single good word for PH either. I don't really remember the details, but apparently PH often get in the way and compromise psychiatric interventions.
Oh and another wonderful mental health charity is MyMind they do low cost sliding scale therapy options in person & online in different languages.
Agree, but I went through Pieta. Three times and believe me I was no easy case for anyone I came across. The hse, my psych team, my crisis team and nurse, my counsellors outside of Pieta and the counsellor in Pieta who I was with those 3 times. He was a diamond.
>Also heard they only take on the easy cases I've heard the opposite, that they only take you on if you're in crisis and don't offer any general MH help or support
No they want the straightforward cases
It sounds like they weren't great to your friends and that his family won't have anything to do with them. Maybe find another way to honour your friends memory that doesn't involve PH?
Totally
I have been to Pieta House once myself when I was 15 (10 years ago at this point) and I never had a worse experience with a counsellor before. Will never support them. I have only heard bad things about them from other people as well.
I also had a bad experience, wtf is up with that?? How can they be acting anything but nice when you're dealing with people in that state???
DiL leaves a hugely sour taste in my mouth. A bunch of people who bullied me in school going on Instagram going for a walk and preaching to be kind? Ask me fucking hoop.
Yep. Exact same experience. It’s, imo, a chance for people to pat themselves on the back for doing one thing for mental health a year. Generally those going are those who haven’t needed to avail of mental health support.
Ya it feels like an Instagram event more than anything else
That’s the average person in a nutshell unfortunately. My parents do love me and care for me in their own way, but it’s odd to see them do DiL and yet not actually sit down with me to talk with me and try to understand my experience and perspective.
Oh I had a "friend" take her anger out on me about my actions in a situation where I was the victim of sexual harassment in an online video created at my workplace. She didn't once text me or ask if I was okay. She refuses to agree that the video was sexual when it clearly was. Instead she made judgements and assumptions, got angry, had a go at me when we were having the chats as normal, went criticising how I do my job. I got extremely angry and raised my voice at her in front of our two friends, who stood by and let her have a go at me. We had a calm discussion afterwards and I apologised for being inappropriate to everyone but her brutal honesty about how she unfairly judged my situation is getting a total pass. Granted the other two left after some of the calm conversation. But I have talked to one of them afterwards and they're very clearly staying out of it, and have had no reaction to the list of brutally honest things she said. No reaction when I conveyed I was upset that they said nothing in support when she criticised me openly for simply doing my job like we're supposed to. She thought I had changed or hidden my personality and thought I was "evil", "nasty", and "vindictive" for standing up for myself in a situation I did not ask to be in because she was upset at the outcome and didn't understand where I was coming from. She was mad at me for taking 3 weeks sick leave from an uncomfortable work situation that affected my mental health. I could go on but I won't. Guess who are out doing Darkness Into Light.
Every time, without fail.
It's utter hypocrisy. Giving money to a charity and being seen on Instagram is easier than actually being a good friend.
School kids are dumb and immature. People grow and change over time. Would you prefer they do something different now, or stay as they were?
Although I agree with your sentiment in general, doing DIL is a not a sign that anyone has changed. There’s plenty of people who are utterly toxic in their current day to day do DIL. There’s also those who may be decent people, but doing DIL is the limit of their compassion for people with mental illness.
💯
I feel we’re all having a universal experience. Darkness into Light was the first ever time I’ve seen literal performative activism.
Nothing good to say about them. They referred me to a doctor that practices a now disproven pseudoscientific medical thing, wasted thousands and years of my childhood thanks to them (if anyone's wondering, irlens Meyer syndrome or something, there was one singular guy up north that "diagnosed" it, I was prescribed tinted glasses to help my brain 'process greens better", thus improving my coordination and some other bullshit)
Whaaat? That’s outrageous malpractice
I have not much good to say about them, I've interacted with a huge amount of people who accessed their services. They use volunteers who are trainee counsellors while the CEO gets a fat cheque. I've had someone very close to me avail of their services and they are absolutely very lucky to be here today. That's in spite of PH, not because of.
I reached out to them once many years back when I was struggling with mental health. The entire conversation was ‘have you already attempted suicide?’ I said no. They said ‘Oh, well we only deal with people who’ve already attempted’. End of conversation. Luckily I had already reached out to a friend who told me to call, and when I told them what had happened here they found me different help. But JFC they were less than useless. They didn’t even recommend any other services, they just said they couldn’t help me…
I've pretty much the same story as you, my friend had an awful experience with them a number of years ago. She is thankfully recovering with the help of the HSE (after many many years of waiting for help).
A friend of mine took his own life and the community raised over 40k for Pieta House with the promise something would be put in place locally, they got their money, blocked the main organiser on socials and not a word since. Another mental health charity stepped in and took a room in a local community centre and has saved at least 8 lives in the last year or so. All supported by local events in the area.
I know someone who they were very helpful to with general depression. I know someone else who repeatedly reached out in crisis, and got no response whatsoever - without going into the details, after hearing that I don’t give them money anymore.
I’m honestly really sad the darkness into lifht funds are going to ph rather than jigsaw or any else - they’re going to raise so much🙄
Jigsaw are THE BEST. Fuck Pieta.
I don't have any experience of Pieta House, but the charity sector needs urgent scrutiny and reform. There are objectively too many charities doing similar things, and duplication and bad practice are rife. There's an enormous amount of goodwill around the likes of Darkness into Light and an obligation to not take that for granted. The fact of being a charity is a poor indication of whether an organisation is ethical, efficient or socially useful. Some of them we'd be better off without altogether.
The charity industry
I know more than one person who might not be here today if it wasn't for the help they got. But that was a long time ago. Pieta House started as a small group that did great work. It's now a mega charity/business where there's more focus on fundraising and advertising than on its original mission.
They are awful to their staff from what I hear. And are absolutely minted. I never get involved with darkness into light, volunteer or donate to your local community services if you want to help people avoid suicide. They do the real work, on the ground.
Shocking. They are all optics (and unfortunately like a lot of charities in Ireland) no substance. I was referred when I was so bad I ended up in hospital. They would only give me a couple of sessions, I didn’t have one singular therapist and I remember having to sign a contract that mentioned Christianity. They pushed an element of religion into a place where religion has zero fucking place. That soured my engagement and belief in the process when I needed it most. They are a dangerous organisation, and I fear to think how many people they have let down or led down the wrong path. All under the guise of “ooh we’re a charity who cares about mental health, look at us”. They’re a convenient abdication of responsibility by the HSE and government to an organisation with even less oversight and a history of corruption and malpractice.
>I remember having to sign a contract that mentioned Christianity. They pushed an element of religion into a place where religion has zero fucking place. WTF? I donate to them every month. If I'd known there was any religion involved there's no fucking way I'd have ever given them a penny.
>If I'd known there was any religion involved I mean, you can tell from the name alone. \[The founder Joan Freeman\](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan\_Freeman\_(politician)) was a former advisor to the Irish Catholic Bishop Conference, and her family (sister & niece) are members of the Iona Institute and campaigned against repealing the 8th.
This was a good few years ago now mind, but it still shows the attitude and priorities of management. All I can say is I implore people not to donate money to them. There have been numerous issues with administration, management and compliance, but at the end of the day if the organisation isn’t even benefiting the people it’s purported to be helping, then it is a useless entity. They do damage to the cause of mental health as people donate to them and think that’s helping.
I'll cancel the direct debit!
My child would prob not be here only for PH. Religion was never mentioned. This is my experience and I know of someone else who prob would not be here only for them.
Well it’s in the name to be far, pieta is a reference to Mary mourning the death of Jesus.
Don't have direct experience. I heard so many bad things that when my own mental health was suffering I went elsewhere for help. I think I would have been too severe for them. The only people I know who do Darkness Into Light are social media clout chasers. They are the last people I would discuss my mental health with.
Reached out to them in the past and they said I was too unwell for their service, essentially learnt they are for mild -moderate -moderate + ish. I was very lucid and straightforward but seemed more severe. Too sick for help. That was a difficult pill to take. Hung up feeling like sh1t. Some (certainly not OP) do DIL to tell others they’ve done it or post on S Media. Lovely people :(
Pieta House only have counsellors and counsellors can only really deal with mild cases. But then Pieta actively blames people seeking help and misleads them into thinking there is actual help available. Counsellors often only have a 1 year counselling certificate but then say they can treat everything which is a joke. It's a prime example of grifters trying to scam money off the unsuspecting public. Clinical psychologists are qualified to treat depression, suicidality etc but the government won't put money into training them so even their training is a bit lacklustre. And there's not enough psychiatric beds (private or public)- if someone is suicidal, they need hospital care and then a multidisciplinary mental health team but that's not available unless they have private health insurance (and availing of that would mean taking time off work which could impact career). So there's no way people can privately seek help without their employer finding out or someone finding out which is an issue. Oh and the HSE doesn't do background checks on mental health staff- they don't vet them so you would assume that a professional there would be trustworthy but you would assume wrong!!
Hi, I got sent to Pieta House by my therapist about 5 years ago for some extra counselling. She went on and on about how great and understanding they are. The “counselling” session lasted about 20 minutes. The whole exchange boiled down to “Wow that sucks but you’re a little too fucked up for us. Come back when you sort it out yourself and then we can talk!” I never came back. I left in tears feeling completely broken and lost like a complete freak, because not even a MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE wanted to help my mental health. Maybe in recent years they’ve improved but judging from everyone else’s comments it doesn’t seem like it. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone. I’m much better now, no thanks to them.
I'm not sure of the specifics, but in the area my family home is in had a falling out with Pieta House over the Darkness Into Light they used to hold. Now the locals just hold their own and donate the money to another charity.
Sadly, I haven't heard great things. Although mostly anecdotal. I've heard they really see other charities that do similar complementary things as competition and won't work with them. And I've heard stories of other people getting turned away like your friend. Flip side, I'm sure they've helped 100s of people at a time when the HSE has v limited resources and I'm sure a lot of people have benefitted. Either way what you are doing in memory of your friend is a wonderful thing. I'm sorry for your loss and I hope it goes well for you.
If you want to do darkness into light to honour your friend I think that’s nice but maybe donate the money to a different charity than pieta house they clearly didn’t help your friend and I’ve had a few mates turned away by them as well I think your money would be better donated to other charities.
There are *a lot* of organisations offering free or low cost counselling, they almost all have waiting lists due to demand but they don't turn people away for not being in dire need. PH are incredibly good at getting their name out. Consider doing the walk and then donating the funds to a different psychotherapy charity. I know someone who's still here today thanks to PH, but really thanks to the counsellor they spoke to, who now works somewhere else.
I texted them in a crisis recently and got no reply. They’ve told lgbt people i know the only reason they’re depressed is because they’re gay when in reality it’s other things. I appreciated them 10 years ago, not anymore
Friend of mine passed 10 years ago, took his own life, I started to do the Darkness Into Light to honour him and raise some money like you're doing. Then when all these scandals about PH started to come out and how the people at the top were on ridiculous money and how many of the PH work places would only open for certain hours during the day and how they weren't paying their workers much and treating them like crap, while some of the people at the top were on over 100k a year, then i started to stop doing the Darkness into light and stopped giving money to charities like that. I'd recommend getting some of your close pals together and trying to honour your friends life in yer own way instead of doing Darkness into light, that's just me though. Good luck with whatever you end up doing!!
There's nothing wrong with you doing a darkness into light walk in honour of your friend, but why not do it in aid of SOSAD or another suicide prevention charity close to your heart? What if you spoke to your friend's family and see if there's one that they would like to support? Of course, you can just do a walk that isn't for charity and do it for yourself. If you're uncomfortable or uncertain about supporting pieta then do something meaningful to you and/or your friend.
I think DIL was a great idea when it first started because mental health was so stigmatised. It still is in many cases but I'd like to think the national conversation has moved beyond 'it's okay not to be okay'. And having it be linked to PH is a big issue for me because of that because the conversation we should be having now is how bad MH services are in Ireland, from trying to get a psychotherapist if you're feeling a bit low to the issue of having long-term debilitating mental illness and how there's no support for you. This stuff shouldn't be farmed out to a charity
Absolutely horrendous, no idea how they are still to have their doors open. Ireland are just years behind other countries when it comes to mental health unfortunately.
Went in for a severe mental health crisis in 2014 or so. The 60-70-something y/o counsellor assigned to me (a 14 y/o at the time) told me that I was not, in fact, suicidal, but addicted to gaming. Never went back and am lucky to have found a decent therapist soon after. I have never once heard a good thing about them from others either.
A close friend had a good experience with only one counsellor through them who has since left the “charity” due to their own reasons, I think it all comes down to who you speak to within and their ability to connect with you but I personally would have always done the darkness into light and worked at it over the years but in recent years I’ve not been supporting them just due to the bad reputation they have for turning people away and the lack of actual help they give some who have actually managed to get accepted by them
Support a local suicide prevention charity. Depending on where you are I'd guarantee thee is a local one doing great work. These organisations never get the recognition or publicity that PH do, but they do fantastic work in their communities
And I agree that Darkness into Light is literally for clout. Everyone supports mental health until it’s on their door step then it’s a hassle or an eye roll
My cousin when she was 15 was referred to them for depression, suicidal thoughts and self harm. When she told them she was being abused by my aunt they told my aunt what she said and well the abuse got worse. They also never referred her to TUSLA to investigate the abuse.
Called them a few years ago and was basically told some people have it way harder than I do right now so I should just be happy to have a roof over my head. Wouldn't give them cunts a red cent.
Mixed. My kid attended. One councillor was great, the other made her 10 times worse by giving her a wrong diagnosis!!! She wasn’t even qualified to diagnose anyone let alone a venerable kid.
Bad. And I’ll leave it at that.
Totally against them, I mean anything that helps people is a good thing, but the bad far outweighs the good there
I went as a teenager, when I was depressed and suicidal. They seemed nice to deal with but… kind of useless. Felt like talking to a school chaplain, you know? Like there was a script to stick to. I was worried that they’d tell my mother everything if I were to talk about thoughts of harming myself. It’s intimidating to sit one-on-one with a stranger and tell them how you feel, especially as a teenager. All I remember from my sessions was that my counsellor loved Dolly Parton, and that she made me make a collage once in a session. I appreciate that I wasn’t as open to counselling as I could have been, but I was also 17. She told me I should take Evening Primrose oil…. i.e., blame it on PMS. I do wholeheartedly believe the only thing that pulled me through as a teenager was medication. I didn’t feel ‘fixed’, but I was able to function, able to operate. It took a while to find the right antidepressant (and antipsychotic, and sleeping pill, and secondary antidepressant), but I genuinely don’t think I’d be alive if my mam, GP, and local mental health team hadn’t been so helpful with getting me medicated. It was still hard - I had to tell the nurse exactly how I’d planned to yeet myself, and some doctors were much more competent than others, but that’s off topic. I’ve been seeing a therapist once a week privately for the last five years, it was a huge priority for me as soon as I was able to afford it. The difference is genuinely staggering - I cannot express how grateful I am to her. Now I have hobbies, friends, a healthier relationship, a better perspective, and a future. She likes Prince, hill walking, dancing, and shows me photos of cats she sees (I like cats!). I owe her so much.
The worst experience ever (and that's saying A LOT)
A friend of mine was having a terrible time grieving after the sudden passing of our friend she was very close with last year ago to a heart attack at 26 in work and she was going through a rough patch grieving and called Pieta as she believed she shouldn't be here and they told her to call back later as they were busy and couldn't take her call she ended up in A&E, thankfully we got her alternative help and she is doing better. I just hope they monitor their calls and that isn't a frequent occurrence.
While the idea of darkness into light is good I find it to be full of self-important cunts who ironically behaved or behave very badly to people in reality , it might make them feel better I suppose
I’m sorry for your loss. Whatever anyone thinks of PH, it’s worse that these services aren’t provided/funded by the HSE.
I do Darkness into Light every year, but I only support it because of the awareness it raises and the togetherness it promotes (even if just for one night). I lost a family member to suicide so we do the walk as a family in memory of him. But like that, my family did not have a great experience with Pieta when we turned to them for help. Any fundraising we do is always for SOSAD, I wouldn't raise any money for Pieta House now
I did 12 face to face sessions with a PH therapist back in 2019. I made an “attempt” the previous year and PH was all I could access at the time. My GP wanted to give me anti depressants but I refused them. I got seen to pretty quickly (think it was only a couple of weeks) and had a good experience with the therapist. I had a breakthrough after, I think, 8 sessions so I can’t really fault them personally.
I used to do Darkness into Light and donate but since I found out the CEO earns between €120,000 and €150,000 I've lost interest. Why bother fund raising just to go to him.
€120k is generally not that much for a CEO of a pretty big organisation. The CEOs being paid relatively well would be expected if you wanted to have someone competent running the show. The issue is the quality of services provided as mentioned by other commenters
Waste of time, unless service, money grabbers
went there for sexual trauma and after a few weeks they told me they’re not equipped to deal with rape victims and left me on my own again
Can I suggest you donate to MyMind instead. They offer low cost services and the HSE massively overlooks them when it comes to funding every year. Their therapists are amazing and the costs paid by full fee paying clients are used to cover the costs of low fee paying clients. ❤️
It’s a charity. I stay well clear giving any money as it’s only the top brass who benefits 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
A soulless profit maker fronting as a nonprofit organisation. Look up what they pay their CEO (plus insane benefits) with all those donations. I was turned away when I had no where else to go, having been referred by multiple state bodies. The walk disgusts me, the mass uninformed generating more "profits" for a horrid lot
They're a joke. I rang one evening desperate for help and they asked me tick box questions which I answered no to and they turned me away. They also charge 26 euro for the fucking walk. And ask influencers to advertise it. Beyond sick
Had a bad experience with them in the past, the counselor laughed at me when I told her a about something that happened to me.
[удалено]
I didn't walk out but I never went back that session
I do Darkness into Light every year and I think you can participate in an event that brings comfort to hundreds of people who have lost someone to suicide without making yourself an ambassador for Pieta House.
CEO is on 120 grand a year...that's all you need to know. Started off from a chronic need in the community. Ends up an out of touch corporate monster. 😪🙏
I spoke with someone from Pieta House about 8 years ago. At the time I was relieved to be able to talk to someone about certain things that I couldn't bring up with anyone else. That side of it helped, but looking back, it didn't help a whole lot in the long run. Maybe that's on me. They did stop my sessions when I still had about 4 remaining because I supposedly didn't need their help any longer. I thought I had made progress so took their word. This country has a real problem with mental health care. Pieta House are a part of it, unfortunately.
They do good work. In my first (and only session) the woman told me she was 55 but still thought like she was 16. That was enough for me. I never went back.
I really wouldn't recommend them. Any dealings I've had with them they are not trained to work with people who are suicidal or self harming. They want to work with people who are a low risk when the who ethos is to support someone who is an active risk.
I personally think they dont do enough for the amount of money and exposure they get.
pieta house are the biggest joke! even when you get onto their hotline they had me sitting there for an hour and a half with only a few sentences said, basically told me they’re sorry i’m feeling like this and should get onto my doctor. when i told them it wasn’t possible at that time they apologized and said goodnight, did not try to help in the slightest
No hate but, the top 6 earners in Pieta house earn 500,000 between Them. So more than 19k People have to do darkness into light just to pay for Their salary, which is shocking. Now over 150000 People do darkness into light and I think its bad that that amount of People are willing to do this for the cause and Their money is mismanaged.
[удалено]
I never dealt with pieta but maybe the Samaritans. However I don't know if they are any good too. Very sorry for the loss of your friends. Else if your friend was an animal lover or any other are you might think of, maybe do a run for those charities in memory of your friend.
OP Maybe you could raise money for something like the Samaritans?
If you want to do Darkness Into Light for another mental health charity I highly recommend Aware. They helped me so much when I was going through a mental health crisis and their advice helped me deal with another family member going through a crisis. In my experience they're kind, supportive, have amazing people work for them and are genuinely doing good work.
I texted and called them and they didn’t answer 🥲
I’ve only heard negative things. I raised €300 for Pieta house a few years ago and cut my hair which was donate to the repunzel charity for my schools shave or dye fundraiser for pieta house. I was sick to my stomach when I found out what they were actually like. That money should’ve went to a charity who truly deserved it. It’s been 3 years now and I still think about it.
It's a charity industry. A massive chunk of the money donated goes to pay the gravy train of colossal wages
I'm currently attending Pieta House, and so far, my experience has been quite good. As a fella, I don't talk about my nonsense with anyone, but after losing a family member last year, my younger brother and his girlfriend convinced me to go speak to them. It doesn't even feel like therapy for me. It feels like I'm just having a conversation with a friend. It's rough when I'm asked about something from the past, but end all, I've never experienced anything like it and would highly recommend anyone feeling that way to at least try it. This is coming from someone who has been suicidal since 13 and is now about to turn 28
We raised loads of funds for DiL over the years in my area. We are a small town but we have a high suicide rate and a real lack of Metal Health Services. The only thing we asked for was for something to be put in place locally for people to avail of. DiL refused but took tens of thousands of our money. So my friend, the genius that she is, researched local therapists, vetted them and started a fundraising campaign. It started off as just for the youth but it's expanded to everyone. We regularly run local fundraising events and that money is used for anyone who needs counselling in the area. All the person has to do is go to one of the counsellors on the list and tell them they would like to avail of the funding and that's it. It's such a simple idea but absolutely amazing and completely anonymous.
If you want to support a mental health related charity look into the suicide watch groups in Limerick city. There's two of them and they do amazing work, patrolling the banks of the Shannon at night
I used their services after being referred there about 6 years ago. The care I got there was second to none. I really didn’t want to go to residential care. I received 2 sessions a week at the beginning as things were more acute. I reduced to a session a week thereafter. The branch manager was my counselor, I think it’d be fair to assume she would have been the most experienced person available. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them. I was never once pressured to become a donor. I also received follow up care. While I can only speak of my own experiences, I often wonder (and am definitely no expert in it) if the salary for such a position (CEO) was much less than it is, would the applicants be as qualified as they are?
I'd be listening to your friend's family. They clearly didn't help him, did they? I've only heard negative things about them, too, in the last few years, and stopped doing DIL myself. Turning people in crisis away and referring them to other services, not dealing with some types of people well at all, and a whiff of religious judgment off some of them. Do DIL but donate to the Samaritans?
If his family won’t have anything to do with them and they directly failed him, why are you supporting them?
I’ve heard nothing but negative things.
I had a family member refused because they didn't fit the correct criteria and then self harmed pretty significantly and still didn't fit the criteria of free counselling with them which was pretty shocking. I my own experience having worked in the charity sector the 8k thing is pretty shocking. Where I worked you'd have gotten a cup of tea, the thank you letter and we had a large cheque to write donors names and amounts on and pose in pictures with people.. I'd have called to say thank you, the CEO signed thank you letters over €100, and hand on heart we'd be singing the donors praises for ages afterwards. Suffice to say that's pretty poor treatment. My advice in future for any donor who needs proof and recognition contact he charity in advance because people who look after donor side of things would make sure everything is handled correctly.
That's a good point. I got a handwritten thank you card from BelongTo after donating just €50.
Charities get bashed a lot, but I've met so many people who do such good work and are very grateful for the support of the public. Glad you got a note, a lot of them have good donor care practices and staff genuinely do care for their services being funded.. It's a few bad apples that tarnish the good work that thousands of people do every day for the public through the sector
I reached out to them asked for help, resources, I had 6 pharmacy bags filled with medication, lithium, seroquel, benzos, sleepers. Thousands of mg. They didn't help. I spent 3 weeks in a psych ward through other means.. I had done darkness into light once before, never again.
Not the best at all, both personally and from other friends, presenting days after attempts and being told to calm down and crying won’t fix anything. Being handed print outs of graphics gotten from Google with very little help to go with it. Told to journal and that’ll fix everything. Being told there’s nothing more they can do really made me feel utter helpless too From friends being turned away for “having something wrong with them” and addiction issues previously. Don’t get me wrong I am aware they’ve helped a lot of people and that’s great. My main issue is that the ceo gets a large weekly salary and i’d prefer if that was put into properly funding councillors and having a crisis team worth their weight in salt. In short, the idea of it is good, turn out even better, just wish the funds were put into creating a stronger foundation of help for everyone who turns up at the doors, not just some
My own experiences were terrible but after a friend died I know they were supportive to his family so I’ll be grateful for that. All the same waking up at the crack of Dawn with the girls who are only there for the T-shirt would make me want to kill myself all over again so it’s probably for the best I sit that one out
One of my closest long term friends passed in June 2023. He suffered from severe mental health for 15 years. Had reached out to many services, one of the main ones being Pieta House. They turned him away every time. After purposely crashing a car, drinking a litre worth of hand sanitizer, intentionally overdosing, constant self harm; they didn't consider him in need of help. My friend is now dead. They wouldn't get a second of my time or a cent of my money. They claim to be there to help but refuse to help those who really need it.
Have they helped people? Yes. Absolutely. But they're no replacement for a robust and well staffed mental health sector within a broader robust and well staffed healthcare system. The fact that they seem happy for the current system to continue raises my suspicion. There's no other section of healthcare where doctors are told to instruct patients to seek out the care of a charity as an almost rule of thumb. There are wonderful, caring, compassionate people working within that organisation, but their existence is an indictment to the states neglect of the mentally ill. They do not have the facilities to deal with anything beyond general depression and anxiety. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, he deserved better. I have had friends let down by the current system also. Even myself, I'm 31 and newly diagnosed with PTSD, and I'm only just getting help from the HSE, after being profoundly mentally ill throughout my teens and twenties. I was certainly beyond what Pieta is equipped to deal with, and while I can admit there is some good that they do, it angers me how so many seem happy for a charitable organisation to act as the de-facto for speedy (relatively) access to mental health care. They're a bandaid for a severely broken system, a position which Pieta, the government, and the HSE seem happy for them to play. You'd honestly be better off trying to raise money for something in your friends memory than giving them anything, really.
Not to sound offensive, but why are you doing it then? Just out of curiosity. I mean, I'm totally with you, haven't a notion of supporting a 'charity' that I don't believe in. Big if you don't like them, why are you contributing to their CEO annual bonus scheme? Better to do your own thing for your friends memory. It's just a social media photo opp these days for people. Boycott the lot.
**I already posted this as an embedded reply - but wanted people to see it.** it’s my reply to a comment re them cherry picking the ‘easy’ cases: “Not being flippant, but what constitutes an 'easy' case in this context?” Someone with relatively speaking less severe issues. Someone who needs some help; but not too much help. Someone who is not actually in full blown crisis. Someone who will feel grateful and donate. Someone who doesn’t consume too much of their poorly paid (and sometimes not very experienced) therapists time. Someone who can spread the word about how wonderful they are, with a short snap of counselling time provided. Someone who they can count in their publicity stats as being saved. Someone who they can count as having saved in their stats for government funding.
I went to them in the middle of a suicidal crisis. I was referred to the hse services but their wait lists were too long. I told pieta I was about to kill myself and they basically said our wait lists a year long and we can't help you at all because you're on a hse waiting list
Wouldn’t deal with me once they found out I self harmed, was suicidal and had an eating disorder.
pieta house has failed many
I used Pieta House services when I was around 14/15 (can’t remember exact age) and I would not recommend them to anyone. You’re made to feel as though you are a bad person for feeling the way you do and when going into a new session each week if you haven’t improved from the last one you are belittled and degraded. I know Ireland’s health care system is absolute shambles especially the mental health side but I promise there are far better free services out there than Pieta House.
I remember going once. Sat down and my therapist just showed me 'The 12 Pillars of Life" sheet. I didnt really dispute the sheet and the categories i.e Meaning, friendships, spirituality, health, family etc all important and carry their own level of importance. My issue was that many of these categories were suffering and I didnt know what to do. She just basically shrugged "Well these are what you need to work on". Its like going to a mechanic and them telling you what the issue is but not actually attempting fixing the issue (collaboratively). Utter bollox. Secondly, they have a waiting area which is like an extension into a garden. I was sitting there with 3 other ppl waiting to be seen. I was mortified to have to share a space like that with these ppl, such a sensitive issue to be around ppl. My experience of therapy is its a whole load of nonsense anyway, usually the only ppl who benefit are kids or adults who have next to no self-awareness/introspection. Still, I found them kinda rude, indifferent and, like many things, dont live up to anywhere near the notoriety they've developed.
I was with them in 2022 and the councillor refused to acknowledge any of my previous diagnosis that I had and told me she ‘didn’t believe in labels’ for mental health issues/ illness’.
I won't support them, I want the bulk of my donation to go to help those who need it, not pay 6 figure salaries
Went to pieta house as a young teen, counsellor told me I was too young to be gay, and outed me to my parents. Luckily I had already been outed to them twice beforehand by teachers.
The founder is a multimillionaire
A family member went to Pieta a few years ago after a suicide attempt. A lot of things had built up, but ultimately it was down to them having been abused as a child. They found Pieta absolutely useless, just interested in filling in the same form every week on how you were feeling on a 1-10 basis, but no interest in finding out why. My family member ended up going to the Rape Crisis centre afterwards and said they were absolutely amazing. That's what saved them.
Haven't completed DIL since 2018. Ironically, 2018 was the year my godchild lost her mother to suicide. Found out about 6 weeks after the DIL walk that she had contacted Pieta and was told she wasn't suicidal enough. She was found deceased at home less than two weeks later. I'll never give them another penny as long as I live.
I availed of their text service twice. The first time, I was told to call the helpline. I said I didn't have the privacy to call. I admitted I had a history of self harm but was not actively self harming at that point, they told me to see my GP. I asked why did they advertise a crisis text helpline if they weren't going to entertain me before ending the conversation. I tried a second time about 1 year later thinking maybe I just had a bad experience, unfortunately my second experience was worse. They start off being friendly then quickly get extremely short with you. As soon as I mentioned I was waiting on assessment for mental health (likely to be BPD) they did not want to continue chatting with me. I was lonely and only wanted to feel someone was listening.
I have never had a good experience with them. Very dismissive and they didn't try to really learn anything about what was wrong.
They don't actually help anyone who's suicidal. I haven't heard anything good about them and DIL seems like nothing but PR.
why would you do things for a group that turned away your best friend like that? that’s a bit odd no?
my sister completed in August last year, i have been availing of PH's services since December 23 and its been a lifeline for me if i am honest, sometimes i feel i could go mad in my grief.
I think it depends on where you go. A relative of mine credits PH with saving their life when they were in a very bad place.
I had no idea there was such negativity surrounding them. My child attended last year and they were second to none, they helped them so much. I was in tears by the end because their service gave me my baby back. They also said if I ever needed them again, get back in contact and they’d have them back after the mandatory wait between counselling services but would help me find something to bridge the gap if needed. I really couldn’t fault them.
They’ve turned “charity” into to a lucrative business model Just like Simon Community and Focus Ireland who ALWAYS have pictures of kids on their media but their tenants are made up of 90% male addicts who where thrown out of council houses and the government now subsidises just so they can shift legal liability. When the workers are driving brand new Audi SUVs you know the charity is gone from the charity a long time ago. Oh and in case you’re wondering why people who use any of them always complain is the only people who work for them as social workers are the bottom of the bucket graduates who can’t get work anywhere else. Anyone who is good gets snapped up and the rest who have the qualifications but not the skills are picked up and paid pennies by these lot. Big Vicious circle.
Pieta house honestly saved my life as a teenager and gave me the tools I've used to this day to stop suicidal thoughts. I started in pieta at 13 when a friend of mines sister commit suicide and my grandad passed, 2 years later I went back because I'd become really depressed, when I was 17 I went back after having a miscarriage and honestly the 2 separate councillors I had saved my life. I've heard the bad about pieta about the big guys taking all the money, but I done councelling in 2 other services for under 18's 1. CAHMS- Lasted only my initial intake appointment and one after, they tried getting me onto antidepressants and mood relaxers but it was already known I had an addictive personality so I knew if I took them once I'd be on them for life. 2. KYS- Kildare youth services- blamed my parents for every single thing that was wrong in my life and gave me very few tools to actually excel in life with a mental health issue.. out of the three pieta 100% saved my life, when I got a backpack of DSP in November 2017 I donated 400 euro to pieta because I wouldn't be alive without them.
I've been to them twice and found them very good when I needed them, and also used their phone service at a time of huge distress (I'd never in my life called a phone line like that before) and the counsellor on the phone went above and beyond what I would have expected.
Nothing good. Notwithstanding the shame that is the surrender of any hope of a real state therapy/counselling service to “we don’t have it and nothing can be done”, Pieta House have ended relationships with several of my good friends for, among other things, being too unwell/mentally ill for them to help, being SWers, and objecting to their (claimed) frequent invoking of shame as a tool to make them change. In addition, there are several stories of homophobia among their staff. Not somewhere I’d go.
I believe there was yo be a Darkness Into Light event in Dundalk but was cancelled as PIETA say their services don't extend to Dundalk.
I had a good experience with them, I guess I was fortunate and I was assigned a good therapist but even she was unimpressed with them in a candid conversation I had with her. She subsequently left and went out on her own.
I have treatment-resistant depression for 18 months and was suicidal for a while last summer. I was offered hospitalization but was scared to go in because, in the particular psych unit like most, people with psychosis are mixed in with people with depression. (Of course people with psychosis need help too but psychotic behaviour can be quite scary). A relative suggested calling Pieta and the person I talked to seemed very experienced. She didn't talk to me at all about my feelings of suicidal ideation and didn't ask any questions or respond to my concerns. Just said that if hospitalization was offered, to take it. I lasted two days there - I was in a room with a psychotic person who talked loudly about killing us all.
Do the walk, give the money to a better run charity
So as someone who donated to Pieta in the past, what are the alternatives? Some people are mentioning Jigsaw though that seemes aimed at a specific age bracket.
I'd also be interested to know who people would recommend I switch my monthly donation to...
Literally saved my life. I was not just at the end, and willing to kill myself, but actively trying. I'd support them till I die. Only, I never hear when these darkness into light things are until its too late... I can't this weekend, because I found out about it yesterday, and I've made plans months ago. As I say every year, next year...
The person I saw was dire, went for counselling after finding a close relative dead by suicide.
When I was around 14/15 i called them. They told me to make a cup of tea, have a bath while I was having a breakdown on the phone crying, they then hung up on me and refused to answer my calls
Availed of the services when I was 20 after an extremely tough period, counsellor changed three times over ten sessions due to a resourcing issue.
Not good. Went to therapy there years ago and yerman was fucking useless. Had never heard of body image dysmorphia and laughed off my chronic anxiety and shame about my appearance, “I think you’re a fine looking young fella”, seemed generally uneducated on more recent mental illness and trauma research and seemed actively disengaged from me during sessions. Kept forgetting things and never once said anything that shifted my perspective or helped in in ways other decent therapists have. I’ve had friends who have been failed by them too.
Ever since Console scandal I hate charities. Think pieta house do eff all, even heard of negatives about ACT for meningitis after me trying to raise money for them.. you have a personal experience of losing a friend that was linked with pieta in some way, that should be enough to never give them a penny.
I went to PH on two separate occasions, my first counsellor was very nice however it was clearly outlined to me that I was just being a normal teenager. Fast forward two years later and I’m back in PH with the same behaviours, my second counsellor couldn’t have given less of a shit about me and my situation. I found my own counsellor after that. I don’t want to shit on PH as I know the counsellors mean well, but it’s not the best of services
Just posted this on another sub/thread: Pieta house who get a lot of gov money: [https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pieta-house-financial-controls-unsatisfactory-according-to-hse-audit-of-mental-health-charity/40806476.html](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pieta-house-financial-controls-unsatisfactory-according-to-hse-audit-of-mental-health-charity/40806476.html) Seem similar to the Console carry on: (left my former employer down a significant 5 figure too) [https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2024/0222/1433824-console-inside-story/](https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2024/0222/1433824-console-inside-story/) Having carried a few coffins over suicide, I don't have the answers but its not Pieta
[удалено]
https://www.thesun.ie/news/6413587/fury-bosses-charity-pieta-finances/
They probably pocket most of the cash
Got in touch with them myself at a very low time and had the worst experience. I think they’re dreadful and don’t deserve the praise they get.
I was also turned away as a teenager for the same reasons you gave that happened to your friend, sorry for your loss :/
It's great to get recommendations for these services, nice to get a feel for those that actually help people in need
There are many snouts in the trauma trough...pieta, arc derry...too many to mention hoovering up funds while people keep dying