Welcome to mindtraining.uk
Introduction
Everyone acknowledges physical health as you can often see it. A broken arm or leg in plaster are visual aids to let us know they have a physical condition and often elicits a sympathetic response or understanding of their situation. However, the same is not true for mental health. Many individuals become experts at hiding their feelings, or worse still they may not recognise they have a problem or know who or how to talk to someone about their thoughts and feelings.
As a manager, teacher, parent, friend, coach you are in an excellent position to notice changes in someone’s behaviour you spend time with and to give advice on mental health issues.
But what if you do not feel confident or knowledgeable enough to have a conversation on mental health?
Through mindtraining.uk, I offer a number of training courses on youth and adult mental health as well as bespoke training to meet your school, work, club or inquisitive requirements!
My mental health training courses will help you to:
- Recognise the signs and symptoms of mental health issues
- Give confidence to start a conversation about mental health
- Provide initial help and support
- Guide someone towards seeking appropriate professional help
- Be mindful of your own wellbeing
What is mental health?
We all have mental health.
Everyday issues such as our home life, work, relationships with friends, family, partners, bereavement, exams, finances all have a part to play about how we feel at any given time and how it can affect our mental health.
Generally, we all have days where we feel good and days when we don’t. However, a person with mental health or emotional wellbeing issues will have more bad days than good.
Mental health issues can affect the way you think, feel and behave. They can leave you feeling tired, sad, helpless, angry or agitated, or they might feel like life just isn't worth living.
Why is awareness of Mental Health issues in young people important?
Record levels of young people are struggling. Academic pressure, social media peer pressure, bullying, poverty, family units breaking down and the covid-19 pandemic have all been named as contributing factors to the rise in mental health issues in young people.
Anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts are just some of the issues teaching staff in schools are dealing with on a daily basis. In fact, the recent NHS Digital report ‘Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2020: Wave 1 follow up to 2017 survey’ Published in October 2020, shows that:
- One in six children aged 5 to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2020, a huge increase from one in nine in 2017. That’s five children in every classroom
- The number of A&E attendances by young people aged 18 or under with a recorded diagnosis of a psychiatric condition more than tripled between 2010 and 2018-19.
- 80% of young people with mental health needs agreed that the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse.
- In 2018-19, 24% of 17-year-olds reported having self-harmed in the previous year, and seven per cent reported having self-harmed with suicidal intent at some point in their lives. 16% reported high levels of psychological distress.
- Suicide was the leading cause of death for males and females aged between five to 34 in 2019.
- Nearly half of 17–19-year-olds with a diagnosable mental health disorder has self-harmed or attempted suicide at some point, rising to 52.7% for young women.
What is Mental Health First Aid Training?
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised training course, designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.
Internationally acclaimed and evidence based Mental Health First Aid courses will teach you the skills and confidence to spot the signs and symptoms of mental health issues in a person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need. In doing so, you can speed up a person’s recovery, stop issues from developing into a crisis, and ultimately save lives.
But more than that, it will give you the information and skills to look after your own mental health. By giving you the tools to have these conversations, I hope that discussions about mental health will become more commonplace and encourage everyone to talk freely about their issues and seek support when they need it.
