Like a lot of people, the idea of mental health first aid appeals to me, and I wanted to know more. When my company announced that they were going to run a MHFA scheme and were looking for volunteers, there was a lot of interest. Eventually a batch of us were sent on a two-day MHFA course run by MHFA England (mhfaengland.org). It was a pretty good course, and I’m glad I went on it, but it wasn’t to everyone’s taste.
A few of our volunteers were upset by the course, and decided not to go ahead with the role. It was not at all what they’d imagined, they said. They had probably imagined it as more of a counselling role – that they would be learning about depression and anxiety. We certainly did cover these, but MHFA is directed at crisis – by analogy with physical first aid – so there was also a lot of discussion about illnesses that most people don’t encounter so often, like schizophrenia. Just as physical first aid courses have to cover electrocution or drowning or heart attack, rather than more familiar conditions, the MHFA course covered suicide prevention, psychotic experiences, and self-harm. Mental illness is unfamiliar territory to most of us, some of our volunteers had no prior expectation of what they were going to hear, and they didn’t much like it. I think I could fairly describe them as “appalled”: appalled at the prospect of having to deal with these situations at first hand. “I just couldn’t bear it if I saw that.” one of the people sitting next to me muttered.
Grouping all mental illness under one umbrella inevitably leads to problems. We talk about reducing stigma – we say its time to talk. But what most people actually mean is that its time to talk about mild to moderate depression. In general, people don’t ask what goes on inside the local mental hospital, they’re not curious to know what it’s like to hear voices, and they certainly don’t want to see your self-harm scars. Time to talk is a fantastic and important initiative, but a lot of people don’t even realise that it has limitations.
I found the MHFA course helpful. I doubt if I will have to use it much at work. Statistically, people with serious mental illness are much less likely to be in work, and if they do have a crisis, they may well have it outside office hours. But obviously I do have situations outside work where I have to deal with mental health crises, and I think it has improved my skills. I’m not sure I could really talk someone down from a suicide attempt, or calm someone down during a psychotic episode, but I have a better chance than I did.
A few of our volunteers were upset by the course, and decided not to go ahead with the role. It was not at all what they’d imagined, they said. They had probably imagined it as more of a counselling role – that they would be learning about depression and anxiety. We certainly did cover these, but MHFA is directed at crisis – by analogy with physical first aid – so there was also a lot of discussion about illnesses that most people don’t encounter so often, like schizophrenia. Just as physical first aid courses have to cover electrocution or drowning or heart attack, rather than more familiar conditions, the MHFA course covered suicide prevention, psychotic experiences, and self-harm. Mental illness is unfamiliar territory to most of us, some of our volunteers had no prior expectation of what they were going to hear, and they didn’t much like it. I think I could fairly describe them as “appalled”: appalled at the prospect of having to deal with these situations at first hand. “I just couldn’t bear it if I saw that.” one of the people sitting next to me muttered.
Grouping all mental illness under one umbrella inevitably leads to problems. We talk about reducing stigma – we say its time to talk. But what most people actually mean is that its time to talk about mild to moderate depression. In general, people don’t ask what goes on inside the local mental hospital, they’re not curious to know what it’s like to hear voices, and they certainly don’t want to see your self-harm scars. Time to talk is a fantastic and important initiative, but a lot of people don’t even realise that it has limitations.
I found the MHFA course helpful. I doubt if I will have to use it much at work. Statistically, people with serious mental illness are much less likely to be in work, and if they do have a crisis, they may well have it outside office hours. But obviously I do have situations outside work where I have to deal with mental health crises, and I think it has improved my skills. I’m not sure I could really talk someone down from a suicide attempt, or calm someone down during a psychotic episode, but I have a better chance than I did.
It's such a difficult thing to handle as so much stays bottled up and come bursting out in ways that are so self-violent. I'm not being patronising or fact=etious when I say well done to all who stepped forward to learn a bit more about a serious issue, whether they felt they could continue or not. It must have been hard for you too, with your own experiences.
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That's a good point, Joy. And I certainly respected all my colleagues for giving it a go - and of course some of them did stick with it! I suppose I was just so used to all this stuff that I had forgotten how shocking it can be to meet it for the first time. The course was just what I had expected, and it was nice to learn some coping strategies. But it really hit me how difficult it was for people who weren't used to it, and what a huge gulf there can be between "normal" life and the world of mental illness.
DeleteI'm still shocked (and it shows on my face) by what happened here after mental illness entered our lives on top of everything else. I hope you keep writing about it, as I'm sure I'm not the only person who craves not feeling alone with it all x
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