ARE we having the wrong conversations about mental health? Limerick-born author Dan Mooney raises the question with his debut novel Me, Myself and Them and shows that humour can be found in many places, even if it is very dark.
The new novel by the 32-year-old – whose day job is an air traffic controller – is a story of male mental health, friendship, loss and the lengths we go to in order to cope.
Dan tells me how he dealt with his own mental health issues and about his two very different jobs.
“I went a little down the poor mental health road myself and, weirdly, I always found the bits and pieces that I did talk about were typically quite humorous. When you're discussing things, you tell a little joke and it’s a bit easier, particularly for young men – it’s kind of a coping mechanism,” he says.
“Limerick humour is quite black; there is a certain element of that in the book. A friend of mine attempted suicide by jumping off one of the bridges on the Shannon but the tide was out and he sank into the silt and broke both of his legs. When he went into the hospital a bunch of his friends brought him up a fisherman’s almanac and they circled the times for the tides.
"There is humour to be found in a lot of places, even if it is in very, very dark places."
Dan reassures me that there's no overlap between what in popular imagination seems like a stressful job – that of an air-traffic controller – and his writing about and experiences of mental health issues. If there were, he wouldn't be allowed to do his job, he says. For nine years, he has been keeping international flights safe over Irish air space; when he goes into work, he leaves his writing and the outside world at the door.
“By the time you finish your training you know the very second you sit down where your focus levels have to be at. You put your head into that space and you work. And one of the things I love about air traffic control is the second you plug out you're done: you can't take it home."
In contrast to writing, "every new air traffic situation that presents itself is different," Dan says. "Stressful things happen," he admits – though he is contractually bound not to elaborate. "It's difficult and you move on.”
In Me, Myself and Them, main character Dennis Murphy is literally living with four monsters, which he created in his mind in an attempt to control what is going on around him.
“That was the point of the story. Here is a guy who can present to his friends and family that he has a measure of control over his life and they see a man who is too controlling," Dan says.
“They don’t realise that he has very little control; he is almost completely out of control. I wanted to create a character that on the surface is completely in control."
Similar to Dennis, Dan at one point became quite neurotic; there were only certain places that he would go to meet friends and these places represented comfort and safety.
He explains that friends too, have to find their way to be comfortable with your illness.
“Friendship is a two-way street and for them it may be difficult; you can’t just say 'I’m this way and you all have to deal with it',” the author says.
“Mental health has become a topic that people talk about a lot. The stigma has gone away and that’s fantastic. But I’m worried people are having the wrong conversations. It’s like, if you just talk about it everything will be fine and if you just tell people you have a mental health problem you will be great.
“Why don’t you get more exercise or why don’t you do this? Everyone has become an expert [but mental illness] is more than all of those things; it is very serious, life-ending stuff.
"Why is it so massively overly affecting men? It’s huge and this has to be coming from somewhere."
Dan has been writing in some form or another since he was 10 and in an ideal world he would write full-time.
He jokes that his ‘mammy’ won't stop ringing him since copies of the book were sent to members of his family, which he admits he is a little worried about. He tells me that since Me, Myself and Them was published, a former colleague of stopped him on the street to check if he "needed to talk to someone".
“I’m fine but if you’re worried about me now you may not want to read book number two,” he replied.
:: Me, Myself and Them is published by Legend Press and is available now.
