I still get a lot of people confused about what Mental Health is and what is most apparent is that the topic is perceived with a measure of fear.

So if we all experience Mental Health, sometimes good, sometimes poor, maybe an illness, what are we afraid of?

It seems there are quite a number: Fear of being associated with poor mental health, fear that we will be in a situation that’s frightening, fear that we will have to solve it, fear we will say or do the wrong thing, fear that it will affect our mental well-being.

Yet with every group that qualifies as First Aiders they realise that knowledge is the best protection. Poor mental health is everywhere, we are already facing issues and by being a first aider we feel calmer and more confident, we make a difference to those around us just by understanding, that stigma is being broken down through understanding, we realise we don’t need to solve issues, sometimes it’s ok to not engage, but by even doing the simplest things we can make a huge difference. So if anything mental health related makes you feel afraid then come and have a honest chat with me and let’s see what we can do to resolve it.