‘Prevention is better than cure’ so the old adage goes…and it was never truer than with mental health. Fortunately, there are actions that we can take in order to keep ourselves psychologically well and resilient. It concerns me that the focus for some organisations is on providing Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA’s) rather than ‘Wellbeing Advocates’ Mental Health First Aid is about responding to someone exhibiting signs of distress or changed behaviours. It is, by its very nature, the equivalent of offering a sticking plaster when someone is on the edge. And how do we look after the MHFA’s? –       Is their training thorough enough? –       Who supports and supervises them? –       Don’t they need an appropriate background to deal with mental health? –       What happens if they get called outside of working hours? –       What happens if their conversations turn into counselling, where does the professional liability lie then? And what responsibility does the organization have? –       If your MHFA is put into a situation where they need to support someone who is struggling what can they realistically do? If an employee is really struggling they’re often going to need more than signposting. ‘Why would we wait until this … Continue reading Mental Health – Prevention is Better than Cure