In honour of Time to Talk Day on 4th February, we have asked our community of Mental Health First Aiders for their view on how talking can help when it comes to our mental health. Two of the key skills taught on an MHFA course is how to listen non-judgementally and give reassurance. Jo is a Trainee Counsellor and an Online Youth Worker for TheSite.org, a support and information website for 16-25 year olds in the UK. TheSite aims to provide non-judgemental support, and here Jo discusses how her MHFA training has helped her to do this work.
How do you feel about mental health stigma?
As a Mental Health First Aider I feel passionate about debunking myths surrounding mental health. I try to do this with friends, family and colleagues whenever I can. Someone recently told me what a ‘selfish’ illness depression was and why couldn’t people just ‘snap out of it’. I did my best to explain to them that this kind of choice wasn’t available when you’re under the spell of depression.
I am in the second year of a counselling diploma and have found that even amongst the helping professions there is still a lack of general knowledge about subjects such as self-harm and suicide. I recently signed an online petition to get mental health on the curriculum in schools as I feel strongly that the best place to start is education, normalising the issue and giving it the same air time as physical health.
As a teenager I knew nothing about mental health, I’d never even heard of the term and it wasn’t until a teenage boyfriend attempted suicide that I began to learn about depression and bipolar. Stigma is a huge barrier and even those that suffer hold that stigma against themselves, afraid to speak up out of fear of appearing weak or a failure.
Have your MHFA skills changed the way you talk to others about mental health?
Working on TheSite, I already had a lot of experience in taking about depression and anxiety as it has been one of the key areas in which we support young people for some time. What changed for me was my understanding of psychosis and hearing voices and learning that this could be brought on by acute stress. Some of the activities we did during the MHFA training, alongside the personal experiences shared, really deepened my understanding and I found I was able to talk more easily with young people about the issue. I also feel more confident in responding to a young person experiencing a panic attack should I need to.
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