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| TX: 27.05.05 - Mental Health First Aiders PRESENTER: JOHN WAITE |
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| Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE BBC CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. WAITE A pioneering scheme is being launched in Scotland which will train ordinary members of the public to be mental health first aiders, it's a key part of the Scottish Executive's national programme to improve mental health and wellbeing, which we've featured before on the programme. Alana Atkinson is project manager and she's a mental health first aid instructor herself and she gave me an example of how the scheme will work. ATKINSON You have someone that's a close friend and you've noticed that their behaviour's changed a bit over time and from being outgoing and very talkative and friendly, suddenly they've withdrawn on themselves, that they're not going out with you as much, that they don't seem - they seem a bit distracted. And you're wondering what's happened, have you done something, have you offended them. If you've been on a mental health first aid course it might actually give you the confidence to actually say to the person - I've noticed there's been a change, I'm wondering if there's anything bothering you. And then if the person actually comes back and says - Well actually yes, I've got these signs and symptoms, I'm not sleeping very well and I'm worrying about things all the time and I don't know what to do about it, I'm feeling a bit odd and strange - you might have the confidence to be able to say well perhaps it might be a good idea to go and see your doctor and would you like me to come with you and it might be that you may have a mental health problem, that you might get the right kind of treatment for. WAITE The classic signs of depression by the sound of it. ATKINSON Yes, that's right but you might not know yourself that that's what's happening, you might not notice depression, you might not know it as an anxiety disorder. And the thing about mental health first aid is that it actually teaches you the different signs and symptoms of some of the more common mental health problems. WAITE Where did the idea for this scheme come from? ATKINSON It originated in Australia and it's based on the concept of general first aid training. The people who developed it were a woman called Betty Kitchener and Professor Tony Jorm. They've done some recent form of evaluation of the work that they've been doing and what it's shown is that people who attended this course improved their confidence and skills in helping others, improved their knowledge and reduced any negative attitudes that they may have held about mental health problems. WAITE Couldn't though someone just as say have hit a road traffic accident scene, if you rush up to a victim and move them, perhaps you could do lasting damage, couldn't someone end up doing more harm than good if they got involved in a situation where they were out of their depth with somebody having a severe mental health crisis? ATKINSON The whole point of mental health first aid is it's the first step before appropriate professional help is sought and what it teaches people is that in genuine emergencies what to do as the first stage, as you would do with a first aid emergency while you're waiting for the professionals to arrive. WAITE And why is Scotland going to kick this idea off, is that because you have particular problems with mental health north of the border? ATKINSON I think there's a recognition that mental health should be at the top of our agenda when it comes to health improvement and one of the things we know in the UK is that in a lifetime one in four of us will develop a mental health problem that will interfere with our lives. And in Scotland mental health first aid is one of a number of national initiatives designed to improve public mental health. WAITE Alana Atkinson, coordinator of the mental health first aid training team in Scotland. Back to the You and Yours homepage The BBC is not responsible for external websites |
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