The Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor Essex County Branch is now offering the public a first-aid course to help those experiencing a mental health crisis.
Mental Health First Aid is an international full-day course that offers instruction on how to help those with mental health conditions and breaks down the barriers faced by Canadians experiencing a crisis.
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, one in five Canadians will experience a mental health illness within their lifetime. Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to face those challenges than any other age group, and mental illness and substance use are the leading cause of disability in Canada.
The course touches on substance-related disorders, mood disorders, anxiety and trauma-related disorders and psychiatric disorders.
Those who register can learn interventions for overdose, panic attacks, psychotic episodes, acute stress, and suicidal behaviour.
"Just as it is important for each of us to know how to intervene during a medical emergency, so too is it important to know how to intervene and assist during a mental health event," said a release from the CMHA-WECB.
Training is designed to improve recognition of the most common mental health problems and decrease the social isolation many with those conditions face.
The program is used in 20 countries, and 300,000 Canadians have received training.
