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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Jonathan Healy in for Clare. On this Friday morning, patients of addiction services used to be majority male, but rehab facilities are seeing an increase in female clients and as a result, more mothers than ever before. But mothers in addiction face more stigma and barriers to treatment that may keep them and their children in the throes of addiction for longer.
Newstalk's Sarah Madden reports on those who are trying to change that. And a warning before we start, this report talks about drug use and addiction.
This is our group room and this here is our philosophy. We say that every morning in morning focus and we all stand around in a circle and we put our hands around each other and it kind of just gets you up and running for the day. I just find this is where the magic happens.
It's a Friday morning at Cool Mind Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre, Ashley House, and resident Danielle Gann is taking me on a little tour.
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Chapter 2: What challenges do mothers in addiction face?
We, as clients in here, we run the house. Oh, OK.
Does that mean you're doing the cooking?
Yeah, we do all the cooking.
OK, who's the best cook? Me. Today, she's all smiles. But just a year ago, things for Danielle were very different.
I lost absolutely everything. My family was gone. My family house was gone. I was left on the streets in Liverpool with a suitcase and only that I got through to a friend of mine and she told me that she was working in Kilmine in Ashley House and my journey started from there.
Danielle is part of a growing cohort of women seeking treatment. And like every other woman here at Ashley House, she's also a mother.
Women come in, their children up to the age of five. Some could have multiple children, so they can come in pregnant and two or three children under the age of five.
Anita Harrison is the Deputy Head of Services at Coolmine.
And when the woman comes in here, they're able to get their treatment programme, which is a very structured, intense programme. It is an intense programme. But in the meantime, their child attends our early year service. So our early year service is on site in Ashley House. And every one of those children have their own key person. So they have their own key worker.
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Chapter 3: How does Ashley House support mothers and their children?
I continued the drug use with him through fear of losing him. We were functioning addicts. Both of us was working. We were like that for many, many years. In denial, of course. Didn't think the kids knew. I used to do mine in the night time, so that made it okay in my mind. It was like, well, the kids is in bed, so they don't know.
But yeah, then the next morning I would be in bed all day, especially the weekends, because I wasn't in work. But then also, even when I came home from work, I was straight up to my room. Kids were getting their dinners in the chipper. I wish I had went to treatment when my kids were younger, but I thought I was still more harm.
By going into treatment when the kids were younger, I thought I was... neglecting them. Yeah, I delayed the process of me going into treatment. So I waited till my kids was older. So I put my kids through a lot. So there was damage done there.
Eventually, Edie sought help from Tig Lynn. And after successfully completing treatment there six years ago, she joined the team and now carries out assessments of other women in addiction.
Mothers in addiction, it's increasing now. It's really increasing. There's even lots of obstacles that get in mothers' ways. Housing. Fear of losing the house. Who's going to take their children? Fear that the kids won't forgive them. Fear of them being labelled as an unfit mother. That's every mother's worst nightmare. Even fear of being judged by professionals.
That delays women from going into treatment. And when it delays them going into treatment, their addiction gets worse, worse and worse.
You know, when mothers in particular would come to see me and I'm offering the possibility of them coming into hospital for 28 days to take part in a rehab programme, I would get a look which would be like, are you serious?
Dr Colin O'Gara is Head of Addiction Services at St John of God Hospital in Dublin.
50% of the people we would see here are women. We have mothers, I would say, in the vast, you know, so many of the cases that we see from the female population and mothers at different stages. So it would be young mothers, mothers with older kids and then grandparents.
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