One in every five Australians will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. It means that you likely know someone in a mental crisis or developing one, whether a family member, a friend or a colleague.
This tells us the importance of addressing mental issues through mental health first aid training.
For more than two decades, MHFA Australia’s evidence-based training courses have equipped people with the practical skills, knowledge and confidence to help someone experiencing a mental health problem.
Read on as we explore the benefits of MHFA training.
What Is Mental Health First Aid?
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training designed to provide individuals with the skills and knowledge to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses. These will make anyone, even non-medical personnel, to be able to offer immediate, concrete support to lessen factors that contribute to poor mental health.
It might be easy to recover from physical injury with medical first aid, but recovering from trauma and unfortunate events (e.g., disaster) is not easy. Such events can greatly impact the brain, which can continue to affect the person’s life if left without treatment.
Mental health first aid training helps you to understand the effect of stress, loss, trauma, and grief on one’s mind. It is important to understand these impacts to be able to help yourself, and others handle life challenges. These can be done by building up resilience through learning different coping strategies.
MHFA training is provided by a highly trained and experienced instructor in the field. The instructor or the RTO will provide specialised training to help facilitate the course with high efficiency for students to understand ways to improve their mental and emotional well-being.
The main goal of this course is to teach self-care strategies and how to care for others who may be suffering from mental ill health.
5 Benefits of Learning MHFA
Here are some of the advantages of learning mental health first aid.
1. Develop A Sense Of Safety
The components of MHFA training teach you ways to make yourself and others feel safe with all the uncertainties and unwanted emotions we are experiencing. By creating a sense of safety, we communicate directly with our brain’s fight or flight system.
One of the ways we can do it is to stay away from situations that can trigger stress, anxiety, or any negative response from our system. Enrol in MHFA training to know other ways to make everyday scenes safe for you and others.
2. Spot Early Warning Signs
Being able to recognise the early warning signs of mental disorders can significantly help in changing the outcome of a situation.
3. Reduce The Stigma
Although there has been a significant improvement in the discussion on mental health in recent years, there is still a stigma underlying this topic.
Having open conversations with others with positive views on mental ill health will help how mental health is perceived. An MHFA course will give you the tools to help you start a conversation with a person in crisis.
4. Establish Connection
Knowledge of MHFA helps you create a connection with the individuals and shows that you are social support they can count on. You can do it by listening non-judgmentally and encouraging them to speak their minds and feelings. This will develop a feeling of acceptance and a partnership of rescue.
5. Save Lives
The last thing we want is for our loved ones to feel like their only option is to hurt themselves. Knowing MHFA allows you to spot suicidal warnings, which can eventually save lives.
Get Trained
At the heart of MHFA, the goal is to provide care for one another. First Aid Pro believes nothing is more important than making people suffering from mental illness feel heard, seen, and supported.
Enrolling in a Mental Health First Aid course provides you with the skills and knowledge to help someone developing or experiencing mental ill-health. You will receive proper training on how to assess for risks or harm, how to listen and start a supportive conversation and when to seek professional help.
Most importantly, it also trains you how to look after your mental health and well-being to be able to help others.
Book a MHFA course today.
