What is Mental Health First Aid? (MHFA)

Mental Health & Wellbeing

While today’s society is starting to discuss more openly about mental health, stigma still exists about mental health illnesses. Many people delay or minimise the importance of professional mental health help and this course helps you support and guide people to reach out to trained professionals. Mental health is just the same as physical health – everyone can be impacted by changes in their life or circumstances, no matter their background. 

Because mental health care is not as normalised as physical health care, we often don’t know how to react to or approach the issues we or people around us are facing. Research shows that trained people with mental health training have improved knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and helping behaviour. It also decreases people’s negative attitudes, while increasing their supportive attitude and behaviour towards people currently experiencing mental health problems. 

Why Is Mental Health First Aid & Wellbeing Important In The Workplace

Focusing on mental health in the workplace can improve the wellbeing of the employees, especially because stress, anxiety and depression make up around 43.8% of all workplace illnesses and more than half of the employees say they have experienced some mental health issue. Joyful Living offers Mental Health First Aid courses for companies, where employees can gain the necessary skills of dealing with mental health problems and supporting other employees, boosting their overall wellbeing. 

What Is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Course

Mental Health First Aid (MFHA) is a training course teaching you how to support a person developing or experiencing a mental health issue. It is very similar to the traditional first aid but focused on mental health, not training you on diagnoses or treating mental health problems. Instead, it focuses on helping you support and offer help until professional mental health help is received. Physical first aid has been normalised sooner than mental health help, although they both are equally important and prevalent in today’s society.  

Becoming A Mental Health First Aider

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a course focused on training people how to identify, understand and assist others experiencing a mental health issue. While it is not a course helping you become a therapist, it helps you gain the skills to be able to listen, reassure, respond and even avert a mental health crisis. 

The course will help you to:

• Recognise the warning signs 
• Approach and support people, keeping them and yourself safe
• Help others to access the support needed for recovery or management of ill mental health 
• Deal with mental health stigma around you

Joyful Living understands the importance of mental health first aid and wellbeing in the workplace. We offer 3 types of courses in Mental Health Training. To find out more, head over to our dedicated page and choose the course that fits your company best. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.