A certificate for mental health first aid is being offered in the City. The two day workshop is being put on by the Mental Health Commission of Canada to help people dealing with a mental health problem or crisis.
Mental Health and Wellness Program Facilitator Chelsey Zelizney says the class looks at four areas of mental health problems: substance related problems, mood disorders, anxiety and trauma disorders and psychosis disorders.
“When we start to see kind of a shift in somebody or we start to see warning signs or struggling with different mental health issues we learn how to start a conversation with this person.”
Zelizney says that like physical first aid, people should take a mental health course.
“Administer our model of mental health first aid just like you would physical first aid for somebody’s who is injured before you give them medical treatment. Mental health first aid is providing appropriate support until we can get them to a professional support or until the crisis is resolved.”
When it comes to the amount of people dealing with mental health issues, Zelizney says the number is higher than statistics are showing at the moment.
“The data around mental health in Canada is showing us that one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem in a given year. I would have to argue and say that when we look at mental health as a problem or a symptom that every one of us will at one time in our lives experience symptoms of anxiety or experience small depression symptoms it just might not always be on a disorderly level.”
The class is currently taking place and will continue until Thursday.
