A two-day course on mental health first aid aims to educate individuals about various mental health problems and teach them how to help others in the event of a crisis.
Earlier this week, 24 participants from across Canada took part in a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course in St. Albert hosted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
They learned about the importance of mental health first aid, how to identify problems and how to assist those suffering from a number of disorders, including substance related, mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders.
“It’s to teach participants to be able to recognize the early signs and symptoms of somebody with a problem or in a mental health crisis such as suicidal thoughts to provide that initial help and then to guide the person toward the appropriate professional resources,” said Denise Waligora, who taught the course. The Mental Health First Aid course has been taught in Canada for less than 10 years, she said.
At the end of the two-day course, participants receive a certificate in Mental Health First Aid. Those wishing to teach the course to others must undergo an additional three to four days of instruction.
Participants came from a variety of backgrounds, including the Government of Nunavut, Alberta Health Services, the Hobemma Reserve and The House Next Door Society in Edmonton.
Carol Symons, an administrator with Edmonton Public Schools, said she found the course very useful.
“You can’t be a living, breathing person and not see application to this or see how it connects to someone or some situation you’ve either been in or you could anticipate,” she said.
In Canada, one in three people will experience a mental health problem during their lifetime while one in five will experience a mental health problem this year.
A stigma exists around mental health issues and those affected by them, Waligora said. Having more information about mental health in the media and connecting mental health agencies in communities could be seen as solutions.
“What happens is that if people don’t talk about it, it’s like it doesn’t exist. The more that people talk about it, the more comfortable people are, then you can reach individuals,” she said.
Waligora said a person with a mental health problem is more likely to be the victim of violence than they are to actually commit a violent act.
“But people don’t understand that,” she said.
She points out that the World Health Organization’s definition of health includes a balance of physical, mental and social wellbeing.
“People would be more inclined to hold the door open on an elevator for somebody in a wheelchair or somebody on crutches than they would if somebody was walking down that hall talking to themselves,” Waligora said.
“We have to still be comfortable to hold that door open for somebody who is talking to themselves because somebody with a mental health problem deserves the same respect and the same assistance as somebody with a physical health problem.”
