Mental Health First Aid: Recognizing help

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We all are familiar with the term, "First Aid", a simple medical treatment that is given to someone before the arrival of a doctor or before the person can be taken to a hospital.

Mental Health First Aid is the help offered to someone experiencing a mental health crisis. It is the help given to someone before he/she can be taken to a hospital.

A lot of people believe that mental health issues can only be taken care of by professionals, which is true; but that does not mean you can't help. You don't wait to get a Doctor's license to help someone with a cut, why hesitate towards mental health?

For you to be able to give mental health first aid, you have to be aware and knowledgeable about some common mental health issues. Some of them include Stress, Burnout, Anxiety, Substance Use Disorder, and Depression.

If you are just joining this series, this is the last article on the mental health series. You can go back to read the previous articles on this series for better knowledge.

The Dos and Don'ts of Mental Health First Aid

Now that you are aware of some common mental health issues, we will go into the practical aspect of it.

Dos

1. Be clear and non-confrontational when talking to them.

2. Make use of non-stigmatizing words.

3. Ask questions that will make the person open up to you.

Don'ts

1. Don't force someone to talk to you if they don't want to.

2. Don't diagnose a person or try to treat the person.

3. Don't minimize a person's problem or issue.

I know, somehow this looks ineffective. You are just going to talk to them! Yes, you are. Talking goes a long way in helping a person with a mental health crisis. After all, that's what they do in therapy.

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