Today – May 1 – is the start of National Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a great time to get your team to begin talking about mental health. And it’s a great time to use some of the free resources made available to us from organizations like the National Institute of Mental Health. They posted this infographic to help us help someone dealing with emotional pain:
How can you make a difference in suicide prevention? Learn about what to do if you think someone might be at risk for self-harm by reading these 5 Action Steps for Helping Someone in Emotional Pain: nimh.nih.gov/suicideprevention.
1. Ask
2. Keep them Safe.
3. Be there.
4. Help them connect.
5. Stay connected.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness also has a toolkit you can download.
There are a ton of great resources out there to help us help those who are suffering. Let’s be aware of these resources and use them to get the conversations going with those around us.
One more resource you can tap into is the First Responder Wellness podcast. My goal with the podcast is to bring to you leading experts who are doing the work in the area of wellness with first responders. And today’s episode is no exception. Sgt. John Haddaway is the Baltimore County Police Department Peer Support and Wellness Manager. Listen to my conversation with him as he talks about what it takes to provide peer support and wellness resources for a large police agency.
Listen on Apple podcasts or watch the show on YouTube!
Until next time, take care of yourself and those around you, and go out and do something great in the world!
