Children as young as six are receiving support for their mental health in North Belfast.
And in two years where news has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, families from every community within the North of the city are dealing with a suicide and mental health pandemic.
Described as a serious crisis, men who have been born and bred in North Belfast say they have seen no real change since they were teenagers.
Read more: Darkness Into Light returns with events taking place across Northern Ireland
Belfast Live spoke to Joe Donnelly, who set up a mental health charity after experiencing the loss of a close friend through suicide, about what he sees as a way forward to tackle to problem.
Entering through the doors of the TAMHI office on on the Hillview Road, their ethos is in bold across the wall - 'Shape, Change and Save Lives'.
That motto, gives the TAMHI team the strength to fight for more awareness around mental health in North Belfast, taking their strategies beyond the four corners of the city.
Joe, a proud New Lodge man, said: "Mental health is a taboo and a dark subject and it can make people feel uncomfortable in that sense. We make it fun and I think if you ask any young person, they'd rather be learning through games than through a classroom.
"Taking a step back and looking at the reality of mental health and emotional wellbeing, it is a huge issue and suicide has been a huge issue. I lost my friend Thomas and my step father to suicide, and my colleague Mick lost his uncle.
"It has hit home really hard. You see the devastation in families and the devastation first hand when you are affected personally by it.
"One in eight young people and one in five adults are affected by mental health and wellbeing to a severe extent - but there are four in five that aren't and seven in eight that aren't. We have a duty of care to look after everyone. We come at it with a positive angle and that is how we look at it.
"Yes you have darkness but you've got the light.
"Support is always available and in North Belfast you've got AWARE, Lighthouse, Bridge of Hope and PIPS. It's about inspiring confidence to encourage help seeking behaviour."
Talking specifically about the area where he grew up, Joe says there are underlying issues in North Belfast which have never been resolved.
Poverty. Deprivation. Educational underachievement.
"Those issues are systematic issues," he said.
"They were issues when I was growing up, and they are issues now. You're almost starting at a disadvantage from day one.
"You then have the issue of social media, where people are trying to live up to a profile online which completely ignores the reality of life.
"Waiting lists are huge and that is testament that young people are seeking help, we just don't have the services to meet the demand. That falls down to lack of investment and the right investment. I don't feel it is allocated strategically.
"Looking further into the issues we are seeing, in North Belfast it is easier for a kid to get drugs than it is to get a carry out. That again, is a fundamental issue. A legal establishment won't serve a young person under 18, but a drug dealer will give a kid drugs, weed, meth, MDMA, as long as they are paying the cash.
"These are issues that I grew up with, that are being made worse with the increase of poverty. It is having a knock on effect.
"North Belfast is judged by its minority. By its issues. Good news doesn't sell and bad news radiates.
"We work with some amazing young people from this area, they are outstanding leaders and contributing to this community. They are the young people who don't get the limelight.
"We have amazing groups such as Ardoyne Youth Club, R CITY, Ye Ha, Alternatives and Streetbeat. They are everywhere.
"They do not get the credit they deserve because we are judged by the criminals and the crime."
Figures released by the Department of Health to Belfast Live this week show high levels of mental health referrals in the first few weeks of 2022.
But speaking to those who are close to the communities in the area, they don't come as a huge surprise to most.
In the last four months of 2021, from September to December, there were 779 referrals from North Belfast to the Assessment Centre.
The Assessment Centre is the gateway for all mental health referrals in the Belfast area via Mental Health Referral Management and can be accessed directly by GPs or other mental health professionals.
January of this year, saw 182 referrals and last month there was 183 Assessment Centre referrals coming from the North Belfast area.
Most recent figures available publicly show there were 42 suicide deaths in Northern Ireland (excluding events of undetermined intent) registered in Quarter 4 of 2021.
This is an increase of seven from the number registered in the previous Quarter (35) figures from NISRA's report.
The 2021 provisional total of deaths due to intentional self-harm to 220, an increase of 22 from the provisional 2020 total.
A spokesperson for NISRA noted: "These data should not be interpreted as the number of suicides occurring during Quarter 4, however, due to the time lag for such deaths to be investigated by the Coroner and then subsequently registered."
SDLP councillor Paul McCusker agreed that while there are many services available in North Belfast, issues that were present when he was a child, are still prominent in 2022.
Having lost friends through mental health, Paul, 36, says there was one stage that he recalls over ten young people in North Belfast taking their own lives in a short space of time.
"Mental health has certainly been a big challenge for a lot of people in North Belfast and growing up, I am 36 now, nothing has really changed," Paul told Belfast Live while standing outside the People's Kitchen on the Springfield Road.
Primary School children are suffering
"There is a lot of support services in terms of charities that work really hard to provide counselling. A lot of our youth services too, are amazing in what they do to get young people involved in different programmes. The key thing for me, is prevention and identifying need within the community and providing the right services. People who have to travel to other parts of Belfast, there are barriers.
"I am on the board of PIPS and in recent months there has been a massive increase in the number of people presenting in crisis. The youngest person that goes to PIPS is six. The oldest is in their 80s. People experience mental distress at different parts of their life.
"The key thing is prevention but it is also about ensuring people know where to go for help.
"There is a massive problem around drugs misuse. North Belfast also has the highest numbers of drug related deaths. There are many reasons why people may experience distress. Poverty, deprivation, housing. How that impacts on the family unit can be very tough for people."
Lack of dual diagnosis support in Northern Ireland is proving a huge problem for those who may be suffering with addiction related problems and mental health issues.
Paul continued: "People who may have an addiction but are experiencing mental health issues too, there is a real lack of support and this should be dealt with together. People will feel hopeless at times. For local people in North Belfast, there has been a number of deaths in recent months, the knock on effect is devastating. For me, seeing that knock on effect is hard.
"While there are a lot of services in North Belfast, we need a joined up approach to ensure the needs are really being met. There's certainly been an increase in the numbers of more younger people presenting in crisis and the CAHMS service and Belfast Trust are under pressure. The figures we are seeing are frightening.
"There needs to be a localised plan. While the Department for Health has strategies and we know that there is now a Mental Health Champion, more localised approaches are really important. If we are going to deal with this, this mental health pandemic which has been in crisis for a number of years.
"We need the community sitting around the table with the Trust and with charities too. People are still taking their own lives and the message needs to be clear - help is there."
Mental health crisis around in North Belfast for decades
"Growing up in Ardoyne, seeing the community come together after a tragedy, is huge. My experience is that a lot of people do want to get involved and make a change.
"The mental health crisis has been here in North Belfast for years. With the pandemic, people have been isolated away from services and there's been a serious level of loneliness. We haven't seen the full effects of the pandemic.
"We haven't seen the full effects of how it has affected mental health. People are experiencing it every single day. I do worry that we haven't seen how this is going to affect mental health in North Belfast.
"North Belfast is an amazing place. I grew up here and it is very resilient. A lot of good stuff happens and quite often we don't hear about it. There is an issue when bad news is constantly reported, people can get that sense of hopelessness. That is the worry I have too, that young people don't see a future because of where they live. That should never be the case.
'We have problems but we are a great community'
"Yes there is lots of problems, a lot of issues that we need to sort. Things haven't changed but I think we need a lot more resources terms of people working together better. We have huge potential but we need more people working together to make that happen.
"Because you are from Ardoyne, the New Lodge or Tigers Bay, you have a future. You deserve that future."
Around £10m has been invested in suicide prevention this year by the Department of Health.
This includes support for the Multi Agency Triage Team, Towards Zero Suicide Programme, Lifeline and development of local area Suicide Prevention initiatives through the community and voluntary sector.
"Protect Life 2 also ensures suicide prevention services and support are delivered appropriately in deprived areas where suicide and self-harm rates are highest, including North Belfast," a spokesperson told Belfast Live.
"Minister Swann has consistently made mental health one of his top priorities. The 10 year Mental Health Strategy, published last June, is a long-term strategic plan to address existing mental health pressures and reform our mental health services to ensure that our population have access to the care and treatment they need when they need it. Addressing the current challenges through the actions in the Strategy is however dependent on the availability of significantly increased and sustained funding.
Mental health a 'priority' for Robin Swann
"The Funding Plan which accompanies the Mental Health Strategy has identified an investment need of £1.2bn over the next 10 years to fully implement the Strategy.
"The Department’s Mental Health Action Plan, published in 2020, also included key regional investment for the Mental Health Champion, Perinatal services, Managed Care Networks for Forensic Services and CAMHS, as well as a Mental Health Innovation Fund. In addition, the £10m Mental Health Support Fund launched by the Health Minister last year recently had an additional allocation of £6m approved, which has enabled awards to be made to a total of 107 projects offering support to people with mental ill health throughout Northern Ireland.
"21 groups and charities located within North Belfast, or aiming to provide services there, have received grants from the Fund."
If you or someone you know is in distress or despair call the 24/7 freephone crisis helpline Lifeline on 0808 808 8000.
Video by Harry Bateman.
Read more: Belfast mum's pledge to help others after son's death following drugs battle
Read more: Ardoyne 'Struggle to Strength' campaign encourages mental health conversation
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
