BOOK LAUNCH Unseen by Breda O’Toole with Tony Bates

Breda and Tony bring two unique perspectives to Irish mental health care over the past 50 years. Breda, in her book “Unseen”, describes her personal experience as a ‘patient’ who had 24 years of psychiatric care, including five hospital admissions, 21 different medications and 29 ECTs. Her account highlights the core elements of emotional healing, which were conspicuously absent from most of her care, but which proved critical and lifesaving later in her life.

Tony Bates is a clinical psychologist who has been deeply immersed in our psychiatric care system for 30 years. He established a model of youth mental health care, known as Jigsaw. He played a significant role in formulating government policies regarding mental health,  suicide, and child and youth welfare. His memoir, Breaking the Heart Open, recounts formative experiences that have shaped his perspective on what it takes to heal and why our current mental health system struggles so hard to make a profound and lasting difference in the lives of those with severe and enduring mental health vulnerabilities.