Mental Health First Aiders

Did you even read my post!?

You are incredibly rude. I missed absolutely nothing.

I don't believe people with 2 days 'training' should be expected to look after suicidal people. I also think it's dangerous, for both the 'trained' person and the one seeking help.

Those 2 days did absolutely not give me the tools or 'prepare' me to support that student. There is a reason that people train for years to support those with mental health struggles.

Actually, I've had to handle multiple situations like that over the years, and the reasons that I first signed up to do MHFA and suicide prevention training etc in the first place was precisely because I was already having to deal with such incidents without having had any training at all.

Is a 2-day MHFA training and/or 1-day suicide prevention training course enough to equip you to deal with such situations? Well, obviously, no, but then, a first aider isn't really "trained" to deal with someone having a heart attack either. That isn't really the point.

What the training does do is prepare you a little better for such situations than you might be with no training at all, and help you to understand options for what to do next. The thing that you seem to have missed is that the MHFA is not intended to be a replacement for specialist support, and it is being poorly operated if that is how it is used. The idea of it is simply to ensure that those who are first on the scene - who may not have appropriate training - are at least a little bit better informed about what to do until proper support can be accessed.

The course gives people a few small takeaways that can help them to feel a bit more confident and more informed about situations which they are likely to have to deal with anyway. They're not intended to do more than that.

The MHFA people at my place of work are the exact nosey busybodies you DON'T want knowing all your business. One man is an absolute vampire for misery, it gives me the ick.

I have no idea where why or how this initiative took off but I'll have nothing to do with it.

I did the training, it’s nothing more than mental health awareness. I was a union rep at the time and suggested my employers not promote it as anything beyond that.

No. Thanks for the cheap shot though.

I take it you've never had a 20 year old student who has seriously self harmed stating they want to die by suicide in your office, but refusing to go to a&e, refusing to speak to the 'counselling' phoneline, or to go home with their parent, who was waiting downstairs.

If you think 2 days of 'training' has you ready for that, you are incorrect, but because I am MHFA 'trained', work expected me to look after that student, after the FA had done their part.

The MHFA qualification was an add-on - my roles for years have been ones where I'm probably the most independent person on site (and I don't tend to go off on one at anything). As people were already coming to me for one thing and then talking about what was really bothering them/I was noticing or reading between the lines and asking questions, I figured that it would be a good idea to get some training to make sure I wasn't making any fundamental errors.

People just seem to like talking to me. Always have. It's better to not be so cocky as to think yourself some sort of oracle - I don't want to cause somebody harm through my own hubris, so I learn, listen, watch and study and talk with others where necessary.

It's not a super important clinical role, it's not that different from being the actual first aider (I'm qualified as that as well, I just keep the certification going in case there's ever a need for it) and it's a tiny extension upon doing my best to behave like a reasonable human being in the workplace; a five minute question that turns into a twenty minute chat is worth it if it saves an hour of pain for that person. I don't 'enjoy' hearing things, although sometimes the conversations can be hilarious, but I am pleased for them if they feel the world is a bit lighter afterwards.

ETA: when I come home, I play zombie games and chat shit on the internet and eat dinner. Their pain is not mine.

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Are you being asked to take the qualification and are scared that it means you're going to have to be a counsellor or psychotherapist? It's really not that.

Oh, posting again to add that my daily job and experience means I'm a person who people go to with varied problems because, to put it bluntly, I know stuff about a lot of things. So it's not that much of a leap to go from resetting a login or explaining how to get particular information to the reason they're forgetting simple things like passwords - to somebody bothering them/something they're worrying about.

The people concerned have significant professional qualifications for both adults and children and are experienced senior members of staff. They're also very attuned to nuances, so if I say I noticed something that concerned me, they listen and take it seriously. And, tbh, I'm fairly bombproof, so if I need a chat, they know it's potentially something significant. It goes both ways, I'm able to listen to them talking about things that are bothering them, so it's mutually supportive.

Turns out a lifetime of trying to work out how people tick, spotting seemingly random items and joining the dots and a whole load of 'course it's fine to speak to me' (with awareness that I am not responsible for saving anybody, I'm there as a friendly face who is pretty good at making people relax and open up' is kind of useful for helping them feel listened to and seen.

I believe they go on a few courses plus ongoing training. At my organisation their main job is to signpost.

However IME the people who become MHFA are the usually the last people I would want to confide in.

Nah, it works for me. It's informal, it's relaxed and nobody thinks anything of it because I get people dropping in for work related stuff all the time, so they're not weirded out by the idea of 'going to see the Wellbeing Lead' (who does the excruciating wellbeing surveys that tell people not to disclose anything, just tick the box to say they agree that the Wellbeing Lead is amazing) and there's no 'oh, they must have mental health issues'.

I'm just more suited to a lot of people's needs. And nobody's shocked when I ask a direct question because they know I'm not being paid shitloads to look good or hand out crappy photocopied or (worse) AI generated slop. I'm there because I'm happy to go at their own speed and I'm not offended or irritated by their wish to talk.

I think this ties back to the other fundamental problem - the nature of people to want to help and their curiosity to find out more.
Properly trained and accredited therapists - real ones that work in the NHS for example - train for years to post grad/post doc level. A part of this training is to instill healthy boundaries around themselves and the care they give. Expecting a person to be able to consistently work within their competency after a couple of days training is expecteing a huge amount of self restraint and self knowledge from them when they're faced with a person in crisis and want to help.

I’m really surprised at this. My course did not lay any expectations for me to run drop ins for people it was more about incidental occurrences and being on hand at events.

Agree it’s a dreadful idea. It’s a dual relationship and a workplace is not the right place to open up deep layers of vulnerability, if you’ve had a panic attack go home and phone the eap. They’re getting better at triaging and mostly you can be seen in 24 hours

Perhaps there should be more education then on what first aid is, I've always understood it as someone given a basic level of skills to allow them to hopefully do more good than harm in dealing with a crisis but certainly never had ideas of any first aider being an expert - that would be what I'd assume of a doctor/paramedic/psychologist/psychiatrist etc. A MHFA course will explain what first aid is and that you're NOT an expert but maybe more universal education on what first aid is is needed then?

I have a first aid qualification - I don’t expect Anne from account to talk to me about her diabetes, but I will patch her up if she falls and cuts herself.
equally I’ve done the MHFA and I don’t expect people to talk to me about their ongoing anxiety but if it all gets too much and they get overwhelmed I can recognise that and give a calm response.
so far it’s been extremely useful when the a local mentally unwell man was standing in the middle of a busy road and I felt confident enough in my approach to him.
I had had experience before I trained of a terrible MHFA who leapt towards me and my son who was having a mental health crisis and started shouting about how her job was to keep everyone safe while trying to redirect traffic away from us (the wrong way round a car park) and causing absolute chaos.

They do have the space to decompress, discuss and talk.

A physical health first aider could potentially have to give CPR or apply a lifesaving tourniquet; that also carries responsibility and could also be distressing.

Plus official MFHAs generally volunteer for the role, like a first aider or a fire marshal. They’ve chosen the role because they think they’re up to it and are aware of what it might entail.

Also, nobody is obliged to contact them if they’re not comfortable with it.

It sounds more like she missed the point about what the role actually is.

The course addresses some misconceptions, appropriate use of language, some indications that you might not know to look for, questions you can and should ask and how you can be present - unlike a lot of people - without actually making things worse.

The general outcome for me is that I get a second, comfortable chair in my office and when assorted people are seen sitting in there, nobody interrupts or asks me/them what the hell they are doing in there rather than getting on with their work. Most start off asking practical things, some then go on to discuss deeper issues. They all know that I'm not going to tell them that they're crazy, stupid or ridiculous and that, whatever happens, if they disclose something that comes under safeguarding, I'm going to report it. I maintain confidentiality, I don't counsel, I don't keep secrets.

It's fine. Half the time they're not entirely sure why they're there but they need to talk to somebody. Which is fine.