First aid in mental health
According to the Health Channel of the Generalitat de Catalunya , first aid refers to "the most immediate and provisional care given to an injured or ill person before being treated in a health center or by expert professionals from the emergency teams."
In an emergency situation, it is recommended to follow three steps in this order:
- Protect yourself, protect the environment and protect the victim(s).
- Alert the emergency services.
- Assist the victim(s), although, in case of doubt, it is better not to act.
In everyday life, there are risks to physical integrity that can lead to emergency situations. If you are a person who has received the relevant training , you can offer care from the first moment, to avoid or reduce damage, contributing to an individual and at the same time collective good. As the Red Cross explains, recognized entity specializing in first aid training, "having first aid skills and knowledge helps create safer and healthier communities."
Most citizens know the first aid applied to physical problems (suffocation, bleeding, cardiorespiratory arrest, burns, etc.), but psychological first aid (PAP) is not as well known, nor has it been implemented to the same extent.
Most humanitarian organizations have implemented psychological first aid as an early response tool in community disasters, especially in natural disasters and wars.
According to the Trauma, Crisis and Conflict Unit of Barcelona (the first comprehensive crisis management center in the country that contributes to implementing PAPs), the term "psychological first aid" was first used by Drayer, Cameron, Woodward and Glass in 1954 in a manuscript they wrote at the request of the United States Department of Civil Protection for the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The original objective was to have a guide on how to act with the civilian population after a community or mass emergency. Later, during the 1970s, PAPs became widespread as a response to any critical community situation, first for adults and then also for children. Since then, both the World Health Organization (WHO) and most humanitarian organizations have implemented PAPs as an early response tool in community disasters , especially in natural disasters and in response to wars or other mass crisis situations. Currently, there are several standardized guides for the regulated application of psychological first aid in humanitarian action around the world.
Guides that guide you
What is mental health first aid?
Coinciding with this generalization of the use of PAPs, in 2001 nurse Betty Kirchner and professor Anthony Jorm, both specialized in public health promotion, created a mental health first aid program ( Mental Health First Aid ®). The goals of the program are to motivate the person with difficulties to become aware of the problem and to facilitate their seeking help, but also to offer guidelines for acting with a person with a mental health crisis. This action involves not only offering the appropriate support, but also knowing how to assess the risk and the need to activate emergency services . In addition, its implementation contributes to combating ignorance and stigma in mental health.
Therefore, the main objective of mental health first aid programs is to empower citizens to promote mental health and emotional well-being , prevent the development or worsening of mental health problems, and combat stigma. Their specific objectives are:
- Recognizing intense emotional suffering and warning signs.
- Accompany and know how to act.
- Facilitate access to support in the professional field and in the closest social support networks.
- Advise and guide on where to go for help.
The principles on which mental health first aid is based are similar to those of physical first aid:
- Preserve life.
- Provide help to prevent worsening.
- Promote the recovery of good mental health.
- Provide support, advice and guidance to all people involved, whether they are people with their own experience, family members or other figures in the immediate environment.
How to help, from school, a child who verbalizes suicidal thoughts
Promoting the mental health of people who are part of a community is an issue that challenges us all. Based on this premise, Salut Mental Catalunya and the Probitas Foundation have developed the support guide Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health in Adolescents and Young People and, with the collaboration of the Trauma, Crisis and Conflict Unit of Barcelona, have created five sheets. The new materials aim to offer support and strategies to people who accompany children, adolescents and young people in mental health crisis situations. These sheets are:
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