5 Steps of Mental Health First Aid
In terms of normal first aid, you are probably aware of the
following aims:
1. preserve life
2. prevent deterioration of any illness or injury
3. promote healing
4. provide comfort to the ill or injured.
Mental health first aid is almost identical:
1. to preserve life where a person may be in danger to
themselves or others
2. to provide help to prevent the mental health problem
developing into a more serious state
3. to promote the recovery of good mental health
4. to provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health
problem.
So, what do you do to provide help to someone experiencing
mental health problems?
The five steps are:
1 Assess risk of
suicide or self-harm (are they serious about it?).
2
Listen non-judgementally.
3 Give
reassurance and information.
4
Encourage the person to get appropriate professional help.
5 Encourage
self-help strategies.
Why are you reading this page? Maybe you are concerned
about yourself or someone close to you.
If you think that someone is at grave risk, call 999 immediately
and ask for the ambulance service.
If it is you, you can call the Edinburgh Crisis Centre
on 0808 801 0414.
The best help that you can be to yourself or someone else is to
seek immediate medical advice through your GP, NHS 24 or
specialist crisis centres. Seek help as soon as possible.
If you are watching someone rapidly going downhill, try to get
them to seek the appropriate professional support for
themselves.