Episode #1: Who – More common than you think

In today’s episode we will consider the who of ‘seeing something’ Finding opportunities to use our Mental Health First Aid skills and make a difference can be increased by taking a little time to think about who might need our support. Too often, when we think of putting our skills to use, we imagine that it will be with/for someone who is suffering greatly in a crisis. This does two things that decrease our potential for helping someone. First, it limits the potential pool of persons to help, because only a small number of people would meet the criteria of being in a crisis… and not in a hospital or already receiving professional help. Secondly, intervening in a crisis can seem scary and since we naturally tend to avoid things that are frightening and uncomfortable it may cause us to miss helping opportunities.

However, it is much more common, that someone we know and see might be wrestling with a mental health challenge, but not at the crisis stage. Perhaps they are feeling unduly anxious, chronically fatigued, down in the dumps or more moody than usual. Remember, 1 in 5 people are living with a mental health concern. Consider reframing your thinking to be more alert for and aware of someone who might be facing a mental health challenge.

We are going to continue to look at how we can be more effective in ‘seeing something’ by considering the second ‘W’, the ‘What’ of seeing something. Or Changes in the BEAT