Working as a mental health first aider in games
Content warning for talk of suicide, overdose, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and mental health issues.
First aid is a fairly well-known concept that involves caring for an injured person until professional help can arrive, but this rarely includes instruction on caring for someone suffering from a mental health crisis.
Until mental health is more widely considered part of overall health and included in basic first aid courses universally, a person can take a specialized mental health first aid (MHFA) course.
MHFA is the care provided to someone who might be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. You might be wondering – what does that even look like in practice?
This depends on the severity of the situation, but day-to-day this often involves noticing changes in a person’s behavior, having a conversation with them to provide some initial help, then guiding them through the process of getting professional help.
In a work setting this might involve helping that person feel empowered to take time off for their mental health, helping navigate the different public and private benefits and supports available to them, and following up to make sure they’re getting the help they need.
Crisis situations are when a person may need immediate help or intervention – things like substance overdose, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts or ideations, or psychotic episodes.
Similar to physical first aid these scenarios often involve following some basic steps to assess the situation and potentially calling emergency services.
We spend many of our waking hours at work, so it’s pretty likely we’ll be at work when we need MHFA. In Canada, one in five people will experience some problem with their
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