The old African saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ was never more pertinent in the shocking revelations of what the Roscommon mother of six herself described as ‘a house of horrors’ and the apparent failure of the community – relatives, neighbours, school, church, health services – to safeguard the children. I do not agree with the Judge’s comment that the ‘children were left down by everyone.’ There is sufficient evidence to suggest that there were some genuine efforts made, but somehow not enough was done. I wonder about the role of the school teachers who obviously observed how neglected theses children were and, on the face of it, did little to alleviate their plight. 

Professor Jean Twenge, Head of Psychology was lead author of a research team at San Diego University who examined forty years of examination results of 17 to 20 year olds. He compared the examination answers of students in 1975 to those in 2006. He found that a third more of the current students believe that they work harder than their parents did and will be better than them in important adult roles, both at home and at work. However, the study showed that the reality is that current students do twenty per cent less homework than their peers in 1975 and are generally less competent than their parents when they were young.

I was watching Pat Kenny’s Late Late Show on Friday, 16th January and wondered what was his purpose of interviewing a woman in her thirties who had a psychiatric diagnosis of ‘obsessive-compulsive disorder?’ I found the interview quite voyeuristic in that it focused on the extremely tormented life of this woman whose obsessive-compulsions revolved around fear of contamination. She described going to extreme lengths to ensure that all threats of contamination were eliminated. The psychologist who attended with her described her condition as a ‘neuro-biological disorder for which there was no cure.’ I found this ‘no cure’ claim disturbing and the purpose of this article is to provide hope for individuals who are afflicted with obsessive compulsive behaviours. The woman in distress would not take medication – for fear of contamination – but the psychologist rightly pointed out that medication is not a cure, but could reduce some of the intensity of the symptoms.

The British Government has launched a ‘dignity and care’ campaign with 4,500 NHS health care staff; the plans are to provide training courses on compassion for these employees. It would not surprise me if the HSE takes up on the NHS’s initiative. Surveys within the NHS have shown that many health care personnel view their medical duties as a series of mechanical tasks rather than a series of human interactions. This lack of compassionate responding to and the dignifying of individuals who are ill and distressed are viewed as having a counter-therapeutic effect. Indeed, the research findings suggest that dignity and compassion may have an even greater therapeutic effect than the actual medical therapies or surgeries being carried out. This claim is not new – bedside manner has always been seen as critical to the medical care of a person.

When a partner says to you ‘You never listen to me’, is she talking about her relationship with you or is she subconsciously talking about her self-relationship. It appears to me this is an important question and will determine not only what action is needed (or not needed) on either the part of the giver or the receiver of the message, but also on the progress of the relationship between the couple. Even more crucially, the answer to the question can have critical consequences on the progress of each party’s self-reliance.