It’s been a while since I’ve been on any formal training and I had the opportunity of attending this through work with the goal of becoming a mental health first aider. I’ve been interested in mental health for sometime and this was an amazing opportunity to learn more.

I can’t say I enjoyed it. You can’t really enjoy a course that covers the hardest parts of people’s lives. It was really tough in places, and overall brought the the fore memories, and I hope a modicum of understanding, of the difficult times people I have known have been through – whether that be family, friends, colleagues or relative strangers. It drove me to leave the room on one occasion when things became a bit too much and that of course was totally supportive.

I know more now. I can try to help in an educated way. I feel more confident to be supportive and it’s made me want to learn more. A good week.