What becoming a Mental Health First Aider thought me about life

Things will never be fine, if we don't get support!

Mental Health is a very popular topic in today's society and it reflects that we have now become more open in recognizing that we all can struggle with different things in life and that we don't need to "just be fine" or hide it. But unfortunately this is still not the norm in all cultures or countries.

Discovering mental health

My journey with learning about mental health came from a part time job during my university bachelor degree. It was the first time that i learnt that, as a student, I wasn't the only one dealing with some situations or thoughts. It wasn't until I was given tips and tools on how to help other people around us, that I started making some connections. My part time job involved on rota evening shifts where students / university security could call and i would go down, talk to them, observe any signs and help with a plan of action or signposting either to the university wellbeing service or GP.

Mental health issues don't go away in a day and our day to day actions and overall resilience has such a big impact on them. This job opened such an important world to me.

I come from an eastern european country where mental health is a taboo subject, where, if you suffer with anything, you are judged, you are marginalized. Looking back now, I am so grateful for the opportunity to help, to give back but also to be there for people that might be afraid to ask for help. The World Health Organization estimates that 3 out of 4 people don't reach out and ask for help. To me, that is one of the saddest statistics out there.

What is a Mental Health First Aider?

It wasn't until i got trained as a Mental Health First Aider for the role, that the connections to my family really took roots and I was taken aback.

A Mental Health First Aider is a person in the workplace that is trained to act as a first point of contact for people with mental health issues, providing support and guidance to their colleagues. It is a course that the company / organization you work for would have to pay for.

And I have to say it is one of the most valuable trainings I have ever attended in my life so far. Being given an in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing really made me reflect on my own wellbeing. You get a confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress. Of course don't imagine that it is instant, but the more I had interactions and was exposed to different situations, the more it helped me. I always cared about every single person I was in contact with and at the end of day seeing them succeed was such a personal boost for my confidence.

Learning the warning signs, you start noticing them more and more and I see that as a good thing. As now i can step in and stop myself, I can give myself more credit but it was also useful in understanding my relationship with the people around me, my family and my friends.

What did it teach me about life?

It highlighted the stigma that still exists and the important role that we all play in changing this. It made me take a step back and want to learn to become more self-aware of my own ticks and triggers. It helped so much in understanding some of the situations that some family members experienced in the past and how important their support network was in helping them get better.

An important part of its lesson for me was that trauma isn't always physical. Emotional trauma hides so well in plain sight and it showed that it is ok not to be ok. That we shouldn't strive to be just fine and that it will take time. Recovery is never a smooth path and the chance of having relapses (going back to our previous behavior / thoughts) can be high, but it is important to remember our vision and our journey.

It was like somebody turned on a bulb, a moment of clarity within the chaos of our world.