The reaction to the Sinéad O’Connor story shows how little attitudes to mental health have changed

Just when we think that people's attitudes towards mental illness are changing for the better, along comes a story that reminds you how far we need to go.

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and its hashtag #MHAW16 has been trending for over 24 hours now, as people share their own stories about battles with mental ill health, and take part in a wider discussion about how so much more needs to be said and done to help the 1 in 4 people in the UK who will experience some form of mental illness in any given year. It all seemed so positive. Then Sinéad O'Connor went missing for a few hours in Chicago. https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/732285845525368833 None of us have any idea about the mental anguish that has affected the Irish singer's life over the last couple of decades, bar what we've read in the media. It seems she has fallen in and out of love, like the rest of us; she has had some troubles in her family life, like many of us; she has gone off the deep end and lost her temper, like every single one of us; and she has done it all in an increasingly cruel and hot-take-leaning social media environment. https://twitter.com/ruairimckiernan/status/732328063338463232 All we do know about Sinéad O'Connor for certain is that she is one of the greatest singers that Ireland has ever produced, and she has made many Irish people proud ever since she catapulted to fame in the late 1980s. Yesterday it was reported that she had gone missing in Chicago, and almost as soon as the story had been published, the comments started, from the sarcastic to the cheap to the nasty. 'Surprise surprise... Just another attention seeking exercise.' 'Course she was found safe and well. She's just mad for attention. She's a hoop.' (To the news she'd been found, safe and well) 'That's a shame.' 'I hope that she puts a sock in it next time, when it comes to insulting others.'  Not to mention the many, many mentions of 'Seven hours and fifteen days.' Fucking hilarious. We're not about telling people what to think, or how to act, or even what to say in our comments sections (as long as nobody is being bullied or abused), but you have to wonder where our empathy is? Does having a degree of fame mean that you're not entitled to the same level of understanding that we'd expect in our lowest,  most vulnerable moments? Can we not practice patience, starting with Sinéad O'Connor, instead of assuming that it's all being done to attract attention? It feels like we're one step away from the "pull yourself together" mentality of the past, the shunning of anyone who doesn't speak and act and behave like upstanding people are meant to do. And it's wrong. Thankfully, there are people out there who saw the online lynching of Sinéad O'Connor for what it was. This comment, from Tony Gammell on the Facebook page of our Irish counterpart, JOE.ie, says it better than we ever could have:

"Here's a funny story. A few weeks back, everyone was in a rage about the apparent lack of politicians in the Dail [Irish parliament] when there was a debate regarding mental health. The politicians were an utter disgrace etc. But when someone with well-documented mental health issues goes missing and there are legitimate concerns for her safely, people are very quick to have a great old laugh and joke about it...apparently she's an attention seeker, that's it's a shame they found her, that she is a "mongo" and that it's a publicity stunt. So maybe we should look at ourselves and our own attitude and do something about that first?"

Do you have a story you'd like to tell us for Mental Health Awareness Week? Let us know at Hello@JOE.co.uk, or drop us a message on Facebook.