I recently completed a two-day Mental Health First Aid course.
After it finished, I couldn’t help thinking that everyone on the planet should be able to do it.
Not because it turns you into a therapist.
It doesn’t.
And that’s the point.
The course was not technically difficult. The material was clear, practical, and structured. There was a simple multiple-choice assessment at the end. No one needed to suddenly become Sigmund Freud with a lanyard.
But emotionally, it was powerful.
It shone a very direct light on something most of us already know, but often avoid saying out loud:
People around us are struggling.
Friends. Family. Colleagues. Quiet people. Loud people. People who seem completely fine. People who make jokes all day and then sit in their car for ten minutes before going inside.
Mental Health Is Not Someone Else’s Problem
Mental health is not some niche issue sitting neatly in a corner of society.
It affects families. Workplaces. Friendships. Schools. Teams. Communities.
When someone is struggling, it can affect their sleep, concentration, confidence, work, relationships, physical health, and sense of identity.
It can make ordinary tasks feel impossible.
It can make people withdraw. Snap. Hide. Overwork. Self-medicate. Pretend. Smile through absolute rubbish because that feels easier than explaining the truth.
And often, the people around them can sense something is off.
But they do not know what to say.
So they say nothing.
That silence is understandable.
But it can also be dangerous.
What Mental Health First Aid Actually Covers
The Mental Health First Aid course covers things like:
- suicide prevention
- anxiety
- depression
- panic attacks
- drug and alcohol use
- severe mental illness
- how to support someone who may be struggling
But the most valuable part, for me, was not memorising definitions.
It was learning what to say.
And just as importantly, what not to say.
Because most of us mean well. We care. We want to help. But when someone is really struggling, good intentions can get awkward very quickly.
We panic. We minimise. We try to fix.
We throw motivational fridge magnets at a person who is barely holding it together.
“Just stay positive.”
“Other people have it worse.”
“You need to get out more.”
“Have you tried not feeling like that?”
Lovely. Very helpful. Put that straight in the bin.
The ALGEE Action Plan
The course gives you a simple action plan called ALGEE.
ALGEE stands for:
- Approach, assess and assist with any crisis
- Listen non-judgementally
- Give reassurance, support and information
- Encourage appropriate professional help
- Encourage other supports
Simple. Human. Practical.
And that is what I appreciated most.
It does not pretend we can solve everything.
It does not tell us to diagnose people.
It does not hand us a cape and ask us to become emotional superheroes. Capes are mostly trip hazards anyway.
It teaches us to notice. To ask. To listen properly. To stay calm enough to be useful. To help someone connect with the right support.
That matters.
Tip 1: Notice the Changes
You do not need to be a psychologist to notice when someone seems different.
Maybe they are quieter than usual.
Maybe they are more irritable.
Maybe they are missing work, avoiding people, drinking more, sleeping badly, or constantly saying they are “fine” in a way that sounds anything but fine.
The point is not to diagnose them.
The point is to notice.
Sometimes the first useful thing we can do is simply pay attention.
Not in a creepy spreadsheet way.
Just human awareness.
Tip 2: Ask Directly, But Gently
One of the most useful things the course reinforced is that we are allowed to ask.
We do not have to dance around the subject for six months while everyone suffers politely.
You can say something simple like:
“Are you okay?”
“I’ve noticed you don’t seem yourself lately.”
“I’m a bit worried about you. Do you want to talk?”
And if suicide is a concern, ask directly.
Not vaguely.
Not in code.
Directly.
That can feel scary, but avoiding the question does not make the risk disappear. It just leaves someone alone with it.
Tip 3: Listen Without Trying to Win
Listening sounds easy.
It is not.
Most of us listen while secretly preparing our next sentence. Tiny courtroom in the head. Very busy. Bad lighting.
But proper listening means slowing down.
Letting the person speak.
Not jumping in with solutions.
Not correcting every detail.
Not making it about ourselves.
Not saying, “I know exactly how you feel,” unless we have a signed certificate from the universe confirming that we do.
Sometimes the best thing we can say is:
“That sounds really hard.”
“I’m glad you told me.”
“I’m here with you.”
Those sentences will not win literary awards.
Good.
They are not there to be clever.
They are there to help.
Tip 4: Support Does Not Mean Taking Over
This was one of the strongest parts of the course for me.
Support is not control.
Compassion is not rescue.
Helping someone is not the same as becoming responsible for every decision they make.
We can support people. We can encourage professional help. We can check in. We can stay connected. We can take crisis signs seriously.
But we do not become their therapist.
We do not become their parent.
We do not become the emergency department with shoes on.
The person still has responsibility and choice.
But they do not have to carry everything alone.
That balance matters.
Tip 5: Encourage the Right Help
Mental Health First Aid is first aid.
That wording matters.
If someone broke their leg, we would not say, “I’ve listened non-judgementally to your shin, so off you go.”
We would help them get proper medical support.
Mental health is no different.
Sometimes people need a GP, psychologist, counsellor, crisis line, workplace support program, trusted family member, or emergency help.
The role of Mental Health First Aid is not to replace those supports.
It is to help someone get to them.
Why This Training Matters
Mental Health First Aid does not remove all the fear from difficult conversations.
Nothing does.
But it gives you a way in.
A starting point.
A bit of structure when your brain would otherwise be standing there holding a clipboard upside down.
You learn that asking directly about suicide is not “putting the idea in someone’s head.”
You learn that listening without judgement can be more useful than rushing in with advice.
You learn that support does not mean taking over someone’s life.
You learn that people need connection, not slogans.
And you learn that we do not need to be experts to care properly.
We just need to become braver humans.
Who Should Do This Course?
I would recommend Mental Health First Aid training to anyone.
In fact, to everyone.
Especially managers, parents, teachers, team leads, friends, and basically anyone who has ever said, “I didn’t know what to say,” or “If only I had said something sooner.”
Because sometimes knowing what to say matters.
And sometimes knowing how to listen matters even more.
Final Thought
Mental health is not fixed by one conversation.
But one conversation can be the moment someone feels less alone.
And that is not small.
That is huge.