An acquaintance suddenly tells you that they are thinking of suicide or you see someone on public transport crying uncontrollably. Is it possible to assist them without putting yourself in danger or leading to further problems? Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training offers an action plan, providing the skills, knowledge, and confidence to deal with mental health situations.
The principles of physical first aid and mental health first aid are similar: Support a person in need, neither curing them nor providing them with professional advice or treatment but instead focusing on keeping everyone safe and preventing further harm. Anyone can learn first aid without being a medical practitioner or healthcare professional—it’s about being a bridge to professionals.
Key Points of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
Mental Health First Aid manuals: Only qualified trainers should train.
Source: Ilan Kelman
No blog or commentary offers or should offer actual training. Only those qualified to train should do so. Reputable courses describe the depth of the trainer’s experience, provide much-needed scenarios and details, and result in a formal qualification.
An understanding of the general points underlying MHFA practices makes the worthwhileness of the qualification evident, and perhaps engaging in an MHFA course will encourage training in physical first aid as well.
The starting point for MHFA is approaching the person to engage in a confidential and reassuring conversation. If self-harm, a suicide attempt, or harm to others seems imminent, the situation should be treated as urgent, and local emergency services should be contacted.
If the situation isn’t urgent, the conversation should be continued. MHFA training teaches the first aider how to listen to the person in need of help. Listening should be nonjudgmental and empathetic, without interruption, without insisting on directive advice, and respectful of privacy. The first aider is trained to recognise possible mental health conditions, but their role is not to diagnose or treat a specific condition.
The mental health first aider reassures the person being assisted with factual and relevant information in addition to hopeful statements about receiving support, whether medical, nonmedical, or both. MHFA training teaches how to do so, including how to suggest next steps, which might involve contacting a 24/7 support line from a charity or seeing a doctor.
Encouragement should be given to seek professional help and to engage in self-help, offering constructive strategies that would support the person requiring assistance. No single or universal approach exists, and the first aider needs to be careful not to be too prescriptive. These tasks are not easy, which is why practice and scenarios in training are useful.
Finally, the mental health first aider must know how to support themselves after taking care of others. Dealing with distressed people can be distressing. No harm should come to first aiders.
First Aid Saves Lives
If we’re trained, prepared, and confident in offering mental health and physical health first aid, we might be able to save the lives of family, friends, colleagues, or even people we have never before met. And we might also find that others will be able to help us when we are in desperate need.
