Mental Health First Aid is a nationwide effort to train the broad public to identify mental illness and substance use disorder.
The myriad aims of Mental Health First Aid range from de-mystifying and de-mythologizing mental illness to training everyday citizens to understand mental illness and help boost the overall mental wellness of their friends, kin and neighbors.
The Mental Health First Aid website lists several training opportunities to address special populations, including veterans, employees, adolescents, the elderly, and residents of rural areas.
Those who have been trained in Mental Health First Aid include lay people, law enforcement officials, firefighters and other first-responders, school counselors, clinicians, community organizers … and your average Jane or Joe. Also, people can be certified as Mental Health First Aid instructors. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing oversees Mental Health First Aid programming.