Dear Minister of Health, @RobbieButlerMLA Northern Ireland faces a persistent crisis in mental health and suicide. In 2024, there were 290 registered deaths by suicide, while around 38% of adults responding to the 2024/25 Northern Ireland Health Survey reported concerns about their mental health. At the same time, one in five adults received at least one antidepressant prescription in 2024/25. Antidepressant prescribing is increasing annually, with disproportionately high rates among women and people living in deprived communities. Too much responsibility for mental health is placed on individuals. This risks leaving people feeling stigmatised, shamed, and isolated. If people are to have a greater role in their health and wellbeing, they need more than encouragement to make healthy choices. They need clear information, meaningful options, and control over the support they receive — alongside action by government to address the conditions contributing to distress. The Give 5: Steps to a Wellbeing Rights Framework, which has cross-party support, provides a blueprint for changing how we understand and respond to mental health. It centres lived experience and rights, addresses the structural conditions causing distress, and calls for government accountability, meaningful options, and wider support. We are therefore asking you to act first on Step 2 of Give 5 — Be Active: reducing over-prescribing of medication while investing in a wider range of accessible, community-based support. This is not about removing medication from people who need or value it. Medication should remain an option, but people need clear information about its potential benefits and risks, alongside genuine access to alternatives. We are calling on you, as Minister of Health, to: ✅Set a two-year target to reduce antidepressant over-prescribing, alongside action to improve prescribing information and practice. ✅Invest in accessible, community-based alternatives, so people have meaningful options around the support available to them. ✅Ensure real participation and choice, with people experiencing distress given clear information and a real say in decisions about medication and alternatives. With only months remaining in this Assembly mandate, you have an opportunity to turn commitments into action and set a new direction for mental health in Northern Ireland. We urge you to take it. @PPR_Org, New Script for Mental Health 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 by @PPR_Org - 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 👇 #StephensVoice #YourVoice #NewScript