On this World Mental Health Day, Helen Easterbrook explains what a Mental Health First Aider is and why they are necessary in the Criminal Justice System

What is a Mental Health First Aider?

You might have seen people wearing a green lanyard or a pin badge saying they are mental health first aiders. You might even have seen adverts inviting you to become a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) or Champion yourself. Like many people though, you might wonder what on earth it all means.

Firstly, what is mental health?

The World Health Organisation defines mental health as, “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.” We all have mental health in the same way that we all have physical health. We can have good health or poor health, meaning it does matter to us all. To be clear, poor mental health doesn’t necessarily mean that someone has a mental health diagnosis, and someone who has received a formal diagnosis can nevertheless have good mental health. They are both continuums and we will all vary in terms of where we sit on them throughout our lives.

So what is a Mental Health First Aider?

If you had an accident or suffered a heart attack at work, you would probably expect someone in the building to be able to help until an ambulance arrived or you were able to see a medic to help with your injuries.

How about if you found yourself in a mental health crisis though? What if you suffered a sudden bereavement or found yourself facing mounting anxiety about pressure at work? How about if money or relationship problems were stopping you from sleeping or functioning normally. If you found yourself drowning in despair, wouldn’t you want to be able to talk to someone, who wouldn’t judge, but who could listen to you and point you towards help if you wanted it? That is the purpose of a Mental Health First Aider.

What do we do in practice?

Big organisations now often have formal structures and teams set up for mental health first aid in much the same way they do for physical first aiders. At the Criminal Bar though we tend to be self-employed, often not knowing where we will be working from one day to the next. This doesn’t mean that as MHFAs we can’t help though. That person sitting in the robing room suddenly quiet when they are normally jovial – we’ll check with them to see how they are doing. It could be that they are concentrating… or they might need to talk. How about the Court usher who has just helped a victim make it into court, but now finds themselves in tears having sat through and supported that victim give evidence – we can listen without judgement, and signpost father support if needed. Almost everyone in practice has been that pupil or trainee, far from home struggling with a verbally abusive client or case that just feels too big to cope with. How often has the offer of a coffee and a chat made all the difference?

For obvious reasons, those of us who are both MHFAs and practicing lawyers have to be careful to maintain boundaries to ensure we comply with our professional obligations, and we are very dearly not medical practitioners so cannot and must not ever suggest a diagnosis. What we can do though is listen, support and signpost in exactly the same way a normal first aider would help until a paramedic arrived.

How about the bigger picture?

Helping people in crisis or need is only one small part of our role. Where and when possible MHFAs should also be helping to break down the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental health. Too often we hear derogatory terms used, or see people ostracised because of unfounded fears of what ‘they’ might do. As a society we wouldn’t stigmatise someone with a broken leg so why do we treat depression, anxiety or eating disorders any differently.

In the same way (I hope) everyone would challenge discriminatory language surrounding race, religion etc we can challenge and educate when hurtful and unhelpful language is used in relation to mental health. This is particularly true when dealing with questions of intersectionality and cultural biases. Sometimes it can be as simple as being honest and open enough to ask questions. How are you feeling? What does that mean? What does that word mean to you? How do you think that makes someone else feel?

What next?

I hope that has explained a little about the role of a MHFA, what we do and how we can help. If it has made you think about exploring this a bit more, please have a look at https://mhfaengland.org/. The two-day course is one of the most interesting I have done and the amount of support and information now available only continues to grow. The world we live and work in seems to only ever increase in complexity and confusion – come and join us in the conversation about how we can all approach it in a healthier, more sustainable way.