by Willemien Jansen (HST Copy and Content Editor)
In times of emotional crisis, mental health CPR can save lives. But what is it?
The Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns have highlighted the need for a bigger focus on mental health care and quick diagnosis of mental health crises. One recent report revealed that South Africans gave the lowest mental health ratings worldwide, while another study published in Nature showed that children are suffering increased anxiety and depression in the wake of the pandemic.
Also called psychological first aid, mental health first aid and emotional CPR, the topic has grown rapidly in the last few years. But, what exactly is it?
Emotional CPR is "an educational program designed to teach anyone to assist another person through an emotional crisis by three simple steps of C=Connecting, P=emPowering, and R=Revitalizing. The Connecting section of eCPR involves deepening listening skills and people are finding this particularly useful."
"The purpose of mental health first aid is to preserve life, prevent harm and provide comfort," says Gita Harie, an HST board member who spent almost 20 years working as the executive director of Durban and Coastal Mental Health, one of the largest mental health NGOs in South Africa. Mental health first aid provides a quick intervention to someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Dilshaan Duearte first became interested in mental health first aid because of her own personal struggle during lockdown.
"I struggled with burnout during the lockdown," said Duearte, who also has a degree in psychology. "I was extremely tired all of the time, struggling with my hearing, dissociated, and feeling defeated and unmotivated."
At the time she was working a high-pressure job, co-parenting two littles ones and coming out of an abusive relationship.
"The lockdown compounded everything and triggered unhealthy behaviour in myself and in those around me. Not least of all my unhealthy coping mechanism of people-pleasing and driving harder to survive." She could also see that, like her, many other people were struggling and that there was a need for some kind of intervention.
Duearte believes that South Africans must be trauma-informed "because people are more likely to seek help from friends and family first, and healthcare professionals must invest in on-going professional training."
Her personal experiences motivated her to sign up for the course with Heart on my Sleeve, an Australian-based organisation that specialises in training people in this new field. Their mission is to "empower every human being on the planet to be real about how they feel."
Steps in mental health first aid
Duearte explains that mental health CPR training gives you the skills to help when someone experiences an emotional crisis, like suicidal thoughts, non-suicidal self-injury, panic attacks, traumatic events, acute psychosis and aggressive behaviour. A mental health first aider makes sure that the person is safe and addresses their basic needs. They offer support and helps the person get professional help. First aid is given until a mental healthcare professional is available or until the crisis is resolved.
"I wanted to be as effective as I could in my own healing and recovery so that I could be a positive influence on others instead of living unconsciously and hurting others because of my own trauma," explained Duearte.
So how exactly does one do this? Mental Health First Aid South Africa (MHFA), an organisation that trains mental health first aiders through virtual courses, provides a five point action plan to follow if someone is experiencing a mental health crisis:
- Approach the person, assess their crisis, and provide the appropriate assistance depending on what they are experiencing.
- Listening non-judgmentally.
- Give support and information about what you are observing and what the person is experiencing.
- Encourage the person to get appropriate professional help from a healthcare professional like a doctor, psychiatrist, social worker or psychologist.
- Encourage those close to the person in crisis to support them.
Duearte is now looking to get accredited as an instructor with MHFA so that she can offer training to her professional network.
"I truly believe that mental health is health and that distinguishing it from physical health is incidental and cultural, to our detriment especially in a country who has experienced psychological abuse on a collective level," she said.
Mental health in context
A recent WHO report states that depression and anxiety have increased by 25% globally during the first year of the pandemic, and we are seeing similar trends in South Africa.
"There is a growing mental health crisis, which is of serious concern," says Harie. She says she has also witnessed a "shrinking funding envelope" in the sector over the years. This is where mental health CPR comes in. "It is cost effective and provides hope to people who are experiencing the onset of symptoms," she explains. "It is a preventive intervention – it promotes and enhances recovery, and provides comfort and support, thus ensuring a mentally healthier South African nation."
Who can become a mental health first aider?
Duearte believes that her life has "been enriched ten-fold by having access to these resources".
"I now live purposefully, I am fully engaged with my kids and have a healthy co-parenting dynamic, I prioritise my mental health as fundamental to my overall health and, I am now able to surround myself with people and places who do the same because I can recognise the difference between what is healthy and unhealthy."
People from all walks of life are encouraged to become mental health first aiders – and especially. It is a particularly important skill for anyone who works with people in potentially vulnerable states, including nurses, community healthcare workers, teachers, ministers, the police, and human resource professionals.
"Anyone can be trained," says Duearte. "This is the basis for this work – to equip as many people as possible to offer support to those in mental health crisis."
Ms Gita Harie is an HST board member who spent almost 20 years working as the executive director of Durban and Coastal Mental Health, one of the largest mental health NGOs in South Africa.
Ms Dilshaan Duearte completed her mental health first aid course through Heart on my Sleeve and plans on getting her accreditation through MHFA.