Mental Health First Aid

One of Monash Residential Services [MRS] Mission Goals is to provide and develop an environment within each location on campus which provides care, support and enrichment for the residential community in academic, cultural, personal, social and recreational matters.

Keeping that in mind, the Director of MRS instituted Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training throughout Monash Residential Services. The Director became a qualified MHFA trainer himself to proactively roll-out such training for all MRS general staff, residential support staff and student volunteers (i.e. resident advisors).

Recognising the increasing importance of mental health awareness, it became mandatory in 2008 for all MRS general staff and MRS Residential Support Team members to undertake MHFA training.

2008 also saw the MHFA course being offered to the residential population living at MRS (Clayton) for the first time - over 50 interested residents signed up for the course in July-August 2008. An additional MRS staff member was trained as a MHFA trainer to assist the Director with the provision of this course as it is intended to also offer the MHFA course to interested residents at all other Victorian MRS sites in 2009.

Figures correct as at: 21 October 2008

Overview

In any one year about one in five adult Australians experiences a mental health problem. Many people suffer a mental illness for a long time before they seek help.

The most common and disabling mental health problems are depression, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders. Alcohol and drug problems frequently occur with depression, anxiety and psychosis.

While people often know a lot about common physical health problems, there is widespread ignorance of mental health problems. This ignorance adds to stigmatising attitudes and prevents people from seeking help early and seeking the best sort of help. It also prevents people providing appropriate support to colleagues and family members, simply because they do not know how.

The Mental Health First Aid Program was developed in 2001 at the centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University by Betty Kitchener and Professor Tony Jorm. In 2005 the Program moved to the ORYGEN Research Centre at the University of Melbourne.

The program has been well evaluated and found to be effective in improving mental health literacy, reducing stigma and increasing helping behaviours. First Aid is the help given to an injured person before medical treatment can be obtained. Mental Health First Aid is the initial help given to someone developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The first aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves.

Intended Outcomes

There are many reasons why people benefit from Mental Health First Aid Training:

• Mental health problems are common
• There is a stigma associated with mental health problems
• Many people do not recognize mental health problems
• Professional help is not always available
• Many people do not know how to help

Course Content

The course covers helping people in mental health crisis situations and/or in the early stages of mental health problems. Crisis situations covered are:

• Suicidal behaviours
• Acute stress reaction
• Panic attacks
• Acute psychotic behaviour

Other mental health problems covered are:

• Depression
• Anxiety disorders
• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar disorder

Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of these mental health problems, where and how to get help and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective.