Monarch is partnering with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) USA to bring a community service to the region. Just as CPR training helps a person with no medical or clinical training help someone who is suffering a heart attack, MHFA training can equip a person to assist someone experiencing a mental health crisis, such as contemplating suicide or inflicting harm on others. In both situations, the goal is to help support an individual in crisis until appropriate professional, peer or social help arrives.
The training will be 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 18 at Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, 4855 Milestone Ave., Kannapolis.
MHFA reduces stigma and increases the understanding that mental illness is real, common and treatable. MHFA gives participants an overview of substance use disorders and mental illness that include, but not limited to depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis, eating disorders and self-injury. On Friday, approximately 35 participants will be introduced to the risk factors and warning signs of these illnesses.
The eight-hour course will give participants a five-step action plan to use in crisis situations involving individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders. Participants will be able to connect individuals demonstrating or exhibiting these signs with appropriate professional care and resources.
When tragedies occur, similar to the one near the U.S. Capitol recently and at the Navy Yard, both in Washington, all Americans are deeply affected. In most cases, mental illness appears to be a factor. But in too many cases, people simply assume that it is. It’s best not to diagnose any medical condition speculatively. Stigma surrounds mental illness – and it’s most often associated with a violent stereotype. The result has been fear and often discrimination toward individuals struggling with a mental health challenge.
Many thousands of veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder; civilian employees of the military seek help for depression; teachers live with anxiety disorders; and students succeed academically while managing bipolar disorder. According to The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), one in four adults and one in five youth experience mental illness in a given year. That’s approximately 60 million Americans without regard to race, religion or socioeconomic background.
To learn more about Monarch’s Mental Health First Aid program, please contact Blake Martin at 704-986-1584 or blake.martin@monarchnc.org. Monarch is nationally accredited by The Council on Quality and Leadership and is CABHA certified. The nonprofit, which offers services in 55 counties statewide, is an affiliate chapter of The Arc of North Carolina and The Arc of the United States.
To learn more about Monarch, please call (800) 230-7525 or visit www.MonarchNC.org.