Why Mental Health First Aid?
Mental health problems are far more common than most people realise. Government and independent studies suggest that up to 1 in 4 of the adult population experience mental health problems at any given time. Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent disorders affecting almost 20% of the population1,2. A further small minority experience psychotic conditions such as bi-polar disorder, also known as manic depression, or schizophrenia at some point in their lives.
All of these conditions can be severely debilitating and sometimes life threatening. Mental health problems are extremely distressing for sufferers, their families, friends and colleagues. They cause major changes in a person’s thinking, emotional state and behaviour and disrupt their ability to work and carry on their usual personal relationships.
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID training has two principal applications in the working environment:
Enhancing Staff Supervision and Health
- Raised awareness can reduce staff sickness and absenteeism by enabling earlier interventions that address problems sooner, thus helping to reduce recovery periods
- Sensitively supported staff feel valued and valued staff are more productive
- Management / supervisory staff become more aware of how to both recognise and respond more readily to mental health problems in their staff team, and help those experiencing difficulties find appropriate support more quickly
- Studies have shown that training staff at all levels not only raises awareness of their mental health, but can also improve it! 3
Differentiating Your Customer Service
- The figures speak for themselves: up to 25% of your customers may be experiencing mental ill health. For customer facing organisations striving to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive environment, MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID training provides an excellent means of defining your customer service, while promoting a caring and socially responsible company profile.
