I also attended the Mental Health First Aid training offered at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis. This is a nationwide program to teach people “how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.”

In addition to Beth’s nice summary of the training (no need for me to repeat them), here some additional points that I came away with.

This set of statistics surprised me. Fifty percent of all mental health disorders begin by age 14 (they can start much earlier than 14), while 75% start by age 24. So we’re definitely working with the demographic group (as patrons or student employees) where mental health disorders have already made themselves known or are beginning to emerge.

The “disrupting the ability to Live, Love, Laugh, Learn” threshold means that mental health disorders can disrupt the ability to: work or attend school; carry out daily activities; and engage in satisfying relationships – the primary categories of things daily life revolves around.

When someone is ready to open up to you, keep the following in mind:

• Don’t use diminutives (“Oh, Sweetie”) even in family situations as it trivializes them/their illness
• Be ready to manage and contain your personal shock and outrage depending on the topic (e.g., substance use, issues around sexual exploration)
• Be careful with technique around reflective listening (it might be super annoying to keep hearing “I hear you saying [parrot back statement they just gave]”)
• Be open to written or text communication (or some non-verbal communication) if individual has a difficult time talking about their mental health

If­­­­­­­­ you suspect that person is at the point of doing harm to themselves, several things to keep in mind.

• The imminent threat window is usually about 20 minutes. This is the period in which the person is triggered, but it can pass (though not a given).
  • It is appropriate to ask the specific question, “Are you thinking of killing yourself?
    • Avoid more generic questions like “Are you thinking of committing suicide?” as “commit” language is tied to religious language of sin and “suicide” language is less direct than “killing”. Don’t worry about putting thought in their head…its already there.
    • If the person responds, “Yes”, appropriate to express empathy (“wow, that must be really heavy or overwhelming for you”) and specifically ask if they have a plan
    • If they have a plan, ask if they have taken the necessary steps to carry out the plan (what, how, when)
    • Basically trying to keep them talking to get through the activated period and give time to get help (911) or make referrals for help
• When speaking to 911 personnel or other responders, let them know that person is having mental health crisis (mental health or health personnel may be available to go out on call)
• May also try to determine by questioning:
  • Have you been using alcohol or other drugs?
  • Have you made a suicide attempt in the past?
  • Have you had family or friends or heroes “die by suicide”
• Give health professionals as much info as possible (meds, weapons, stopped treatment, etc)

It was a long and heavy day and resulted in info overload for me. And while I don’t feel like I have the exact words to use on the tip of my tongue, at least I feel more informed about what to look for when working around young people.

-Uta