About a few weeks ago I nervously but angrily wrote a status update on my LinkedIn page, it went like this:
'I cannot hide my concern any longer - so I'm gonna call it out.
It is great that wellbeing & mental health is now on the agenda, what is not great is the number of unqualified people stating that they are experts. This post is not to disqualify their skills, in fact, many do a great job at reducing stigma & starting conversations. However, having seen a job advert for 'coaches who will be dealing with suicide potentially daily' is just too much. I have spent 15 years in the NHS, the last 6 in crisis and intensive care teams - I am trained in RISK & SUICIDE & I still value my colleague's opinions in order to make decisions at times. The number of people who are now calling themselves experts is outrageous and speakers, coaches & trainers with basic mental health training (as much as you are probably great at what you do) is just god damn risky (this is an emotive update - apologies but those who know me know how passionate I am about MH). Interdisciplinary working is key, accepting your limitations is key, ethics & boundaries & above all substantial training & experience in mental health is key.
Please do not discredit my industry, my colleagues, our training, our experience, just as you wouldn't any other profession. Especially when peoples lives are at stake.'
What happened after that was beyond anything I could have expected and to date, the post has received:
83,000 views
472 likes
145 comments (mostly detailed responses)
Clearly, I had hit a nerve for many. I have been thinking this way for quite some time, in fact, it had come up in conversation on numerous occasions when talking to colleagues. However, everyone had a tipping point right, well for me that moment had just come. You see, I had seen a post by a well-known business advertising for a 'coach' who would be dealing with people with 'suicidal ideation' on a daily basis. Quite frankly, the post shocked me to my very core - more so, if they couldn't see the 'risk' involved, how would the Organisations' they are working with be able to see it either?
Companies, despite their good intentions, need to recognise that actually, this is a big problem and they need to step up and offer to employees evidence-based interventions which are delivered by 'professionals'.
Now before I get a load of messages stating that professionals are often not or shouldn't be classed as 'experts' I'm going to explain my rationale to you.
Firstly, in my opinion, first aid is not being able to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety or schizophrenia. In fact, first aid to me is more primal and should be about the kinds of things that lead to mental health illnesses. This will not only help us identify some of the things we experience ourselves, but also identify how such experiences may affect others. Now don't get me wrong, the mental health first courses that are out there are very informative and education - but if someone has depression and/or anxiety or any another mental health issue and they are ticking many of the symptoms boxes then your role is simply this; be kind, listen and help them get support.
Often people are breaching boundaries, moving way past awareness (to aid the reduction in stigma and identify signs that people are acutely unwell - the original concept) and attempting to work with clusters of 'symptoms' in my view for commercial advantage.
Any intervention past being kind, listening and helping to get support (including sharing your own personal story) if you are not qualified to deliver that intervention is wrong.
I say this hopefully with grace - but I mean it when I say that someone who is not qualified should not be working therapeutically (including coaching interventions) with someone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts. Having had to attend a Coroners Court due to being the last person to see someone who went on to end his life - I do not say this lightly. What are YOU going to say to the family members who want to know why you made the decisions you did.
You see even our concept of first aid is reactive - despite everyone's good intentions. I fully accept, and indeed I am grateful that a lot more people have a greater awareness of mental health - but it does not qualify a first aider to do anything other than being kind, listening and signposting/getting help. This simply might mean you can an ambulance or the police to help.
First aid to me rather is the engagement in soft skills. Paying attention to others and yourself is key, as well as the development of your active listening and empathy skills. In addition, recognising the ever-growing disconnect between people and actively going out your way to connect and pay attention to those you work alongside is what I see as 'first aid'. You see often it is an accumulation of events, experiences, learnt and taught behaviours that lead us to use developing collective symptoms (in addition to genetic vulnerabilities).
I also don't believe we shouldn't be making money out of our mental health stories - sharing experiences is part