Mental Health First Aid

One in five People will Experience a Mental Health Problem in their life. Will you know how to help?

Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack—even if you have no clinical training—Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.

Before you can know how to help, you need to know when to help. We call this mental health literacy—or a basic understanding of what different mental illnesses and addictions are, how they can affect a person’s daily life, and what helps individuals experiencing these challenges get well. This course will teach you about:

Depression and mood disorders
Anxiety disorders
Trauma
Psychosis
Substance Use disorders

Mental Health First Aid teaches about recovery and resiliency—the belief that individuals experiencing these challenges can and do get better, and use their strengths to stay well. When you take a course, you learn how to apply the Mental Health First Aid action plan in a variety of situations, including when someone is experiencing:

Panic attacks
Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
Nonsuicidal self-injury
Acute psychosis (e.g., hallucinations or delusions)
Overdose or withdrawal from alcohol or drug use
Reaction to a traumatic event

The opportunity to practice—through role plays, scenarios, and activities—makes it easier to apply these skills in a real-life situation.

If you would like to schedule a group training, please contact Gulf Bend Center's Community Educators at 361.575.0611, 800.421.8825 or via email at MHFA@gulfbend.org.

MHFA Outreach Worker Contact Map