Mental Health First Aiders

[JaneBoleyn]

There are a couple of points regarding the role that I feel uneasy about and I'd appreciate any MHFA educating me or responding.

I understand that their role is to provide initial support and guidance.

Other than 5 day course, what qualifies them to do this? Do they interview for it? Who is doing the interviewing?

What is the remit on confidentiality, especially if asked by a manager to talk to them?

Promoting MH awareness and reducing stigma. How, exactly? Is this part of the "Bring your whole self to work day"? I don't want to hear about Maddie in accounts experience with anxiety, largely because I don't know what to do with that information (plus it feels extraordinarily invasive).

So they have clinical supervision from a clinician? My bet is an emphatic "No". So there is the potential for poor practice, oversharing and vicarious trauma.

Signposting I get. But the internet tells me that their role is to support without judgement and offer immediate assistance to those in distress. What do they actually do with that information, other than signposting?

It all feels very virtue signalling to me, but please do change my mind.

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?

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

But they don't always have access to that space, several posters have said this.

I also feel that because you feel you CAN do it, doesnt mean you are best placed. Volunteering shouldn't come into it.

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.

I had no idea that came within the remit of a MHFA.

You do have more than the MHFA course?

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.

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.

Who oversees you_do you have professional supervision?

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.

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.

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.

Wow. Just for my own clarity, are you doing that under your remit of MHFA?

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.

....................

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.

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.

No. I'm a healthcare professional and wanted to learn more about the role.

This thread has been eye-opening.

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.

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.

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.

Thank you @TinselAngel , that is very thought provoking.

I think if there is one thing I have learned from this thread is that there is significant variability in how the role is performed. I was shocked at some of the answers and there seems to be a lot of scope for poor boundaries at the very least.

I did ask but I don't believe anyone commented, I was wondering about the selection process? No one has mentioned a plan for determining how a person has the right skills and attitude for the role. But is very much like to hear if there is.

What I don't think is appropriate is an email asking for volunteers and plonking those who respond on a 2 day course.

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.

Where I work some roles have to take the training, and some can choose to.

There is no selection process for those who choose to, anybody can.

It’s several years ago now but IIRC I was encouraged to do it due to being the union rep, HR advisers were encouraged to do it but other than that it was open to volunteers.

I did the training and was sceptical whether it was even equivalent to a practical first aid course.

I went to the Unison health and safety conference and a speaker there crystallised my doubts, saying it should only be regarded as MH awareness.

Thank you @TinselAngel . Your final paragraph seems very wise and well thought out.

From an outsider's perspective, it looks like the Wild West.

I'm not being rude, but you are missing the point.

Nobody is suggesting that MHFAs can possibly take the place of people who have trained for years to support people in crisis, nor that they should attempt to do anything of the kind.

But the reality is, there are not "trained people" immediately on the scene all crisis situations, and the first responders will very often be people without any training or experience in this area.

What exactly are you saying should happen in such situations? Do you think we should have qualified mental health professionals stationed on every street corner ready to jump into action at the first sign of a crisis? Do you think the person who has self-harmed should be completely isolated until a professional can arrive so that no untrained person has to deal with them? Or would you agree that it's better for the first responder on the scene to have done at least a basic 2-day awareness course than to have no preparation at all?

Having been the first responder with no training and having been the first responder with minimal training, I know which I would prefer. I am under no illusions that the training qualified me to do anything, but it did at least take some of the anxiety out of the situation for me personally because I had a basic idea of what was expected me in that situation, and indeed what was not expected of me.

The five day course is to train to deliver the two days training course. It's a bit of a racket really, a lot of cash for a mh awareness course with a lot of orgs jumping on the bandwagon of 'promoting wellbeing at work'. Sometimes as it's easier and cheaper to do that than address the structural and systemic problems that are driving people to round the bend.