Our Minds Matter As Much As Our Bodies

Why I think everyone should think about attending a Mental Health First Aid Course

‘Mental Health First Aid? How have I never heard about that before?’ I wondered when I read about this course in a magazine while I was on Christmas break. I had a closer look online and found out, that the courses were taught similarly to the better-known First Aid courses with a duration of one or two days.

‘How cool is that?’ I thought and booked myself in.

When I understood the importance of my mental health

If you ask people whether they consider their mental health and well-being as important, most of them would probably say ‘Yes’. I mean, who wouldn’t?

I believe though, that many people — including myself — tend to realise the importance and meaning of it only then, when it’s taken away from us.

Despite some challenges I was facing growing up, I always considered myself to be ‘fine’. I didn’t believe to have had any significant issues and therefore, didn’t pay too much attention to my well-being and mental health.

Two years ago, I found myself having a breakdown after I had lost a dear family member and could almost see the lovely façade I had put up, crumbling in front of my eyes. It hit me hard - I wasn’t ‘fine’.

It concerns everyone

Some people get defensive when they hear about mental health and don’t think it’s got anything to do with them. I believe that is due to a common misunderstanding between the expressions ‘Mental Health’ and ‘Mental Illness’ or ‘Disorder’.

Mental illnesses often describe diagnosed long-term disorders, whereas mental health is used as an expression about our feeling of well-being. All of us go through phases in life, where we’re feeling a little bit low, where we’re shaken by an event and in those periods of times our mental health is a bit poorer than usual.

But while physical injury is often visible, our mental health isn’t. Therefore I believe it’s even the more necessary to educate ourselves better about signs of poor mental health and signals for mental health emergencies.

A summary of 4 lessons learnt in the course

1. On the Topic of Statistics

The content was nicely spread over two days and went over a variety of statistics at the beginning, which emphasized the importance of being educated on mental health. Did you know that there were over 6000 suicides registered in the UK in 2018?

Spotting signals early and knowing how to respond to someone struggling can save lives. It’s worth keeping our eyes and ears open, specifically with the people we know best and to initiate a conversation if we see someone struggling.

Lesson 1: My knowledge counts — I can save lives.

2. The Vicious Cycle of Mental and Physical Health

We discussed how mental and physical health is so closely related since one can easily lead to the other.

Someone who had an accident and is now unable to visit the gym regularly like they did before, is likely to suffer from that adjustment. And the same can happen the other way round. Someone who is feeling low might not have enough energy to look after their body properly and will neglect their exercising and food intake and might become physically ill.

Lesson 2: Just because something is invisible, it doesn’t mean it won’t matter.

3. Mental Health Problems and Disorders

There is a wide spectrum of disorders and mental health problems. Some of the better-known ones are anxiety and panic attacks, bipolar, depression, eating problems, phobias, schizophrenia, self-harm and trauma.

Often people are diagnosed with a number of disorders since the symptoms often relate to more than one.

Lesson 3: I roughly know the symptoms of the more common mental health problems.

4. What everyone can start with straight away

Offering a connection Many people that suffer are feeling disconnected. Offering them that they can reach out to you is the first and most crucial step.

Listening If someone decides to confide in you, listening is the key! Being present in the conversation and taking in what the other person is saying is crucial to judge the situation.

Validating without judgement It can make a huge difference to someone to be listened to and having the feeling, that there is no judgement. Many people hold back their feelings because they fear their feelings might not be valid.

Lesson 4: Listening, validation and offering someone a connection are three simple things that can help someone overcome their fears and struggles!

What you can do as a Mental Health First Aider

The courses I attended aimed at reaching more people to be educated around mental health and to certify them as Mental Health First Aiders.

Many employees feel a lot of pressure at work nowadays and suffer from the effects of permanent stress. Some people end up announcing sick leave as a result of being overwhelmed and have felt a lack of support. With better facilities in place, this can be prevented!

Besides broadening your knowledge through this course, an amazing benefit is that you can now support your friends, family and colleagues.

You might want to announce at work, that you have completed this training, so they have the opportunity to reach out to you directly if they feel they need your support. More than that, you will be able to actively look out for unusual behaviours among your colleagues and initiate a conversation, if you think someone might be struggling.

Ideally, there would always be a handful of Mental Health First Aiders in a team or department — depending on the size of it. That way, there is a better support network and chances are higher, that enough help is provided.

I learned a lot in those two days, and I’m sure everyone will benefit from it! The more people that attend a MHFA course, the better we can support each other, and the more people can be helped!

Many thanks for reading!