First aid to tackle mental health issues on the way

May 5 2008 by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

THOUSANDS of people in Wales could be trained in mental health first aid.

It is hoped that these people will be able to provide early support to people suffering from a range of mental health conditions from stress to depression and psychosis. It is hoped the scheme, which was developed in Australia, will not only save lives but reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems.

Mind Cymru, with financial backing from the Welsh Assembly Government, aims to train 75 instructors by March 2009. These instructors will then train other mental health first-aiders.

Peter J Green, the national trainer for the mental health first aid project, said: “Just as a first-aider is able to help someone with an injury by administering first aid or calling an ambulance, mental health first aid will offer help to people with mental health problems. If someone is in distress from depression to psychosis then a mental health first-aider will be training to help that person to get better.”

All mental health first-aiders will be trained to recognise the early symptoms of distress and equipped with the skills to determine whether someone is suicidal.

They are encouraged to listen to the person’s issues and offer support and information and encourage sufferers to seek professional or self-help for their problems.

Ruth Coombs, Mind Cymru’s influence and change manager, said: “One in four of us experiences mental health problems each year so we are all affected, yet few know how best to help someone when they need it, and appropriate help is not always at hand.

“Good mental health is vital to our wellbeing, and mental health first aid is a simple, proven course which will improve Wales’ emotional health by giving many Welsh people the skills and confidence to help when needed.

“As with general first aid training, it’s the first step before appropriate help is sought and it teaches what to do at the first stage in emergencies.”

Mental health first aid was developed in Australia and has been successfully rolled out in a number of countries, including Scotland, where 19,000 people have been trained.

Mr Green said: “Early intervention is so important, just as it is with physical problems. Mental health first aid has the potential to catch problems at an early stage so a person can get the professional help they need.

“The key aim is to preserve life and then quality of life, to ensure that people can live very happily with something like schizophrenia or psychosis. My hope would be that every organisation will have a mental health first-aider, in the same way that it has conventional first-aiders.”

People interested in applying to train to become a mental health first aid instructor should contact Kim Pugh at Mind Cymru, Cardiff, on k.pugh@mind. org.uk or 029 2034 6581