This week Imperial College Union conducted it's second Mental Health training, bringing the total number of students who are Mental Health First Aid trained upto nearly 50!
Why are we training people in Mental Health First Aid?
Last year Mentality and Imperial College Union worked together to conduct research to identify the levels of stress and causes of poor mental health.
The results of the survey confirmed that there are high-levels of stress at Imperial and that poor mental health is commonplace. To read more about this please follow this link.
As part of the recommendations of the report we are already seeing widespread changes being implemented across the training, including a redesign of Imperial's Welfare website, and a review of Student Support Services as well as an increase in the services being provided in some areas.
What are we hoping to see as a result of this training?
Imperial College Union wants to support students to break the stigma surrounding mental health and for a greater awareness around how to support a friend, teammate or classmate in need.
The training give students the skills to:
- Identify the discrimination surrounding mental health issues
- Define mental health & some common mentalth health issues
- Relate to people's experiences
- Look after your own mental health
Will there be more training opportunities this year?
Currently, we haven't got any more training planned for the year ahead, however we are investigating how we can train more students in the new academic year.
But, this is an area I am passionate about!
That's great! If you're passionate about identifying the causes of poor mental health and want to join us in tackling this and breaking the stigma, contact Sky Yarlett, Representation & Campaigns Coordinator
