Justine Stafford says Irish life isn’t always grand
Justine Stafford details her struggles with anorexia, self-harm, and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) in a personal essay published in The Irish Times. Writing about her upbringing in Co Meath and her career in entertainment, Stafford discusses how public perception, perfectionism, and the pressures of early adulthood intertwined with her mental health diagnoses.
Early Influences and Rural Roots in Meath
Growing up in Kilbeg outside Nobber, Co Meath, Stafford developed an early interest in making comedy videos. Her father worked as a dairy farmer, anchoring her background in a rural community where she attended a primary school with just 11 pupils in her class. During fifth class, she participated in a short film project run by IADT through the Fís initiative, which provided technology to rural schools. That experience prompted her to get a camcorder from Santa and continue making comedy shorts. At age 15, she won the national under-18 Fresh Film Festival in Limerick, earning a trip to represent her work at festivals in Seoul, South Korea. Stafford studied film and broadcasting at DIT, eventually building a career in digital comedy and podcasting, including co-hosting The Lovely Show with Kevin McGahern.
The Spiral of Anorexia and EUPD Diagnosis
The transition from a small primary school to a secondary school with approximately 400 students proved difficult for Stafford, according to her account in The Irish Times. Facing social isolation and bullying over her weight as a child, she attempted to manage her environment through weight loss. “I thought if I lost weight, it would help, but it spiralled,” she writes, noting that the diet evolved into an eating disorder linked to perfectionism, control, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. In her early 20s, she dealt with depression and self-harm while facing uncertainty after college. Following a suicide attempt at age 23, she spent time in the hospital and received a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD). Stafford describes the diagnosis as a relief that provided a description for her struggles with emotional regulation, extreme highs and lows, and identity. She notes that EUPD symptoms can be managed into remission where individuals learn to handle intense feelings as they bubble up.
The Irish Art of It’ll be Grand and Podcast Success
Stafford recently authored a book titled The Irish Art of It’ll be Grand, published by Wildfire. The volume serves as a comedic exploration of the Irish outlook on life alongside personal narratives addressing her mental health challenges. She notes that while the book highlights unique cultural traits, omitting personal hardships would have been a disservice, aiming instead to show how the Irish face serious situations. Creating the audiobook proved challenging because it required reading her personal stories aloud. Alongside her writing projects, she collaborates with Kevin McGahern on The Lovely Show podcast, connecting with an audience of listeners in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand who relate to their shared rural upbringing and comedic sensibility.
“There’s a certain sneer that people can have in those counties, and the audience love that,” Stafford writes of the regional dynamic that resonates with listeners abroad.
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