First aid for mental health

A TWO-day mental health first aid training course is being offered by Solutions Together this August.

The course will seek to provide participants with the skills needed to help people at their workplace, or in life, who are struggling with their mental health.

Participants will also receive a mental health first aid qualification which is valid for three years.

The goal is to equip participants with the ability to provide temporary support until the person can access professional help.

“Mental health first aid is about learning how to talk about mental health and help people in need,” said Lani Peach, co-director of Solutions Together.

“Many people feel uncomfortable when thinking about starting the conversation and during the course people learn how to recognise signs and symptoms and the skills to feel confident to help someone.”

Ms Peach said that mental health first aid is an important skill to have due to the prevalence of mental illness in society.

“One in five of Australian adults experience a common mental illness each year,” she said.

“You could save somebody’s life and you could definitely make an improvement to their quality of life.”

Another element of the course is the aim of reducing stigma surrounding talking about mental health and having seen as similar to physical health.

“Mental health itself can have quite a stigma attached to it so what we encourage in the course is for the participant to leave the course feeling confident to have general conversation about mental illness to help destigmatise it,” said Ms Peach.

“It’s okay to have a broken arm, you go and get help, so it’s okay to have a mental illness and go to get treatment.”

The course will be held on Wednesday 16 August and Thursday 17 August at Ballarat Trades Hall. Tickets can be purchased via tickethost.com.au/?Event=2582.