Dr. Sadhbh Byrne from the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University is leading a new research project, called PRISM (PRovision of Informal Support for Mental health), in partnership with Mental Health Ireland and funded by the Irish Research Council.
Research suggests that young people often turn to their friends when struggling with their mental health. However, at present, there is very little research on the type of support that is provided by friends, or what the experience of supporting a friend is like.
To tackle this, the PRISM project aims to understand:
- What type of support is provided by friends.
- What the experience of providing support is like
- What information and supports might be helpful for young people providing support to friends (i.e., “supports for the supporters”).
The project aims to gather this information through a survey which will be distributed to young people across Ireland. The survey will be co-designed with an advisory group of six 18 – 25-year-old young people in Ireland who themselves have experience providing support to friends.
All members of the group should have experience supporting a friend (this includes neighbours, colleagues, peer aged family members e.g. cousin) through mental health challenges, and should be willing to actively and respectfully contribute in meetings and workshops. The researchers welcome and encourage expressions of interest from young people from traditionally underrepresented groups in society.
If you need more information, you can email the lead reseacher, Dr. Sadhbh Byrne, at: Sadhbh.Byrne@mu.ie or click here
