As a psychology student at Brigham Young University, the Mental Health First Aid class seemed like a great opportunity for me to supplement my classwork with some real-world knowledge. So, I signed up and took the course. I never expected to put the things I learned to use so soon.<\/p>\n
The day after I completed the training, my usually reliable friend didn\u2019t come to church services, which was out of character\u2014especially since she was teaching a Sunday School class. My roommate and I were concerned because we knew she was struggling with depression and anxiety, so we texted her. She responded that she was having a really bad time and she decided to stay home. It was a red flag, so we left early and went to see her.<\/p>\n
As soon as we walked into her apartment, the ALGEE action plan I had learned in the training clicked in. I checked it off in my head. Is she okay? Does she know she can seek professional help? I immediately started assessing her for suicide and self-harm. I knew that we didn\u2019t want to leave her alone and that we should get her into another environment. So, my roommate said, \u201cHey, we\u2019ve got Oreo cookies in our apartment. Why don\u2019t you come up and we can talk?\u201d She was reluctant at first, but she finally came up and we talked it out.<\/p>\n
As we walked through the ALGEE steps, I could see how applying them made things go more smoothly. I had more confidence in what I was doing and saying, and I was a lot more comfortable dealing with the situation than I would have been just a week before.<\/p>\n
We talked about what she was feeling. At the beginning, she was reserved and uncomfortable, but as we listened non-judgmentally, I could see in her body movement and the tone of her voice that she was more comfortable and more able to open up.<\/p>\n
Through non-judgmental listening, we learned that she was afraid she\u2019d feel this way for the rest of her life and that she\u2019d never be \u201cnormal.\u201d We reassured her that recovery was possible and encouraged her to seek professional help through the free on-campus counseling service. We also gave her tools for self-help and told her she could turn to us and other friends, her family, and her faith for support.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s working with a counselor and doing much better now. She still has her ups and downs, but when I see her, she seems to be dealing well with her challenges. I’m not sure how differently things would have gone if I hadn\u2019t had a plan to follow in that situation. But thanks to my Mental Health First Aid training, I didn’t have to find out.<\/p>\n
I would encourage anyone to take a Mental Health First Aid course. You never know when you\u2019re going to have a situation when you\u2019ll need to use the ALGEE techniques. And you never know when your actions can make a difference in someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
What you learn in Mental Health First Aid fits into your everyday life and enriches it. It helps you in the roles you already play in people\u2019s lives: To be a better, more prepared parent. A better, more prepared friend. Whatever role you play in someone else\u2019s life, Mental Health First Aid will help you do a better job of helping that person.<\/p>\n
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As a psychology student at Brigham Young University, the Mental Health First Aid class seemed like a great opportunity for me to supplement my classwork with some real-world knowledge. So, I signed up and took the course. I never expected to put the things I learned to use so soon.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"news-type":[298],"class_list":["post-11413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","news-type-success-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n