With Mental Health Month officially behind us now, it’s important to keep the conversation going. Mental wellbeing is something that’s important year-round for ourselves and others, which is why ContinuumCloud is committed to moving the conversation forward in meaningful ways.
In May and June, ContinuumCloud employees are receiving Mental Health First Aid training. Mental Health First Aid is an organization that aims to help raise awareness and understanding of the early warning signs of mental illness. Founded by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Mental Health First Aid aims to be the CPR of mental health.
Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace
The workplace can be full of stressors that can impact our mental health. Our training focused on common conditions at work, including stress, anxiety, and depression. Recognizing early signs of these conditions in both ourselves and others can help prevent these conditions from becoming more serious.
One of the key indicators we can recognize early on is a change in behavior or personal appearance. And, because we spend a significant amount of time working with and interacting with our colleagues, our coworkers may be in the best position to notice these changes over time. During the training, ContinuumCloud employees are learning not just how to recognize early signs of mental illness, but also how to address them. Just as someone trained in CPR is not suited to provide full medical care, an individual trained in Mental Health First Aid is not suited to provide behavioral health care. Instead, employees learn techniques for how to broach the subject and how to approach the situation with openness and understanding.
Why Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid offers a lasting impact for those who go through training. Employees come out of the training with a basic set of skills for noticing when they or their colleagues may need to attend to their mental health needs a little more. For the company as a whole, increasing our understanding and acceptance of the challenges that can arise from mental health problems is even farther reaching. It helps us better understand our diverse and growing workforce, and it helps us better support our clients as they provide important behavioral health and human services throughout our communities. Learn more about Mental Health First Aid here.
