Mental Health First Aid

Mental health issues affect employee’s job performance, productivity and their ability to safely focus on the job at hand.  Mental illness, including depression, is associated with higher rates of disability and unemployment.  The United States is witnessing growth of mental health disorders across the country with nearly 1 in 5 US adults reporting a mental illness or concern in 2016.  

What is Mental Health vs. Mental Illness?

There are differences between mental health and mental illness - although they are often referenced as being the same.   Both mental health distress and mental illness, including depression, anxiety, substance use, and stress, affect individuals, their families, co-workers and the community. However, mental health and mental illness are not the same.  Over the course of a lifetime, most people will not experience a diagnosable mental illness. However at some point, most will experience mental health distress or challenges to their mental wellbeing.  With the COVID19 pandemic there has been an influx in mental health concerns. 

The National Safety Council - Nebraska chapter (NSCN) now offers Mental Health First Aid training to assist in assessing potential mental health concerns.  Due to First Aid/CPR training, most of us know how to help if we saw someone having a heart attack. But few people  would know how to respond if we saw someone having a panic attack or if we were concerned that a friend or co-worker might be showing signs of alcoholism.

Mental Health First Aid takes the fear and hesitation out of starting conversations about mental health and substance use problems by improving understanding and providing an actionable plan and the tools to start a dialogue and save a life.  The training is focused on teaching individuals to safely and responsibly identify and address a potential mental illness or substance use disorder.

Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based public education and prevention training.  It improves one’s knowledge of mental health and substance use problems and connects people with care.  As part of your safety and workplace health program, it has proven to be a successful and integral part, especially when combined with potential interventions.  NSCN believes that this training is crucial in fulfilling our mission of reducing injuries and saving lives as mental health issues may distract from one's ability to perform their jobs safely.

Mental Health First Aid was developed by the National Council for Behavioral Health and is delivered by the National Safety Council - Nebraska chapter.   

Currently, NSCN is providing training for groups of 6-12 individuals from a single organization focused on developing the First Aiders team for that particular organization.  If you do not have a group of 6+ individuals but are interested in completing the training, please contact us and we will try to facilitate including you with another group. 

Click here for more information or contact us at 402.898.7364.   

Register Today for Mental Health First Aid