Mental Health and Me

BBC Radio Foyle

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BBC Radio Ulster

Mindful March

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Mental health programming for the month of March.

Mindful March: Mental Health and Me: Episode 4

Documentaries

Ruth McGinley

Episode 4

BBC Radio Ulster - Mindful March, Mental Health and Me, Episode 4

Former BBC Young Pianist of the Year Ruth McGinley talks about her mental health.

In 1994 Ruth McGinley won the BBC’s Young Pianist of the Year competition.  In conversation with Steven Rainey she discusses the impact success had on her mental health.

In 1994 at just 16 years of age, Londonderry born Ruth McGinley beat all other competitors to win the coveted piano final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year.   She’d go on to win a scholarship to the London Academy of Music and tour the world as a solo concert pianist.  
But behind the success, the young woman struggled with her mental health, experiencing periods of self-doubt and anxiety that led to depression and addiction.  
In conversation with Steven Rainey, Ruth describes how she left behind the concert circuit and sought the help she needed for her mental health.  She describes how only now, in her 40’s, does she feel happy with her music choices and her personal life. 


Presenter Steven Rainey 
Series Producer Gemma Cunningham
Editor Carole O’Kane



Mindful March: Mental Health and Me

Northern Ireland's national station for local news, sport, weather, speech and music

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Series of no-holds-barred conversations about mental health.

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