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Paramedic Graham Roper’s goal is to have Kiwis view psychological first aid courses as important as physical first aid courses. He has developed a programme that is now available across the country, including in Warkworth and Maungaturoto, through a provider called Pro+Med.
The four-hour course aims to equip attendees with the skills to identify if someone is doing it tough and may need help.
“It’s great to be able to ask a friend whether they are doing okay, but you need to know what to do, if they say no,” Graham says.
The main tool taught is how to actively listen to someone who is suffering and to understand what resources they can be connected with if they need help.
The course also teaches the difference between sadness, which is a normal response to an abnormal situation, and depression or psychosis, which is when extreme anxiety impacts daily life.
For example, a depressed person may stop eating or not show up for work or other commitments.
“You have to know what normal is to be able to identify abnormal behaviour,” Graham says.
Graham developed the course while working in the mental health industry after recovering from an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life. Prior to this, Graham was an ambulance paramedic.
He says that if psychological first aid courses had been around when he was suffering, he might not have made the same decisions.
“If someone is experiencing an overwhelming sense of helplessness, we need to provide them with the chance to be heard and explore opportunities to be helped,” he says.
Graham says that suicide among adults has statistically risen in the last few years and it needs to be acknowledged as a problem.
“It’s clear that reluctance from society and media to talk about it hasn’t helped.”
Graham’s journey to recovery was a long one. After attempting to take his life, he woke up under a bright light with his wife and children looking down on him, and he believed he was dead in a coffin. It took him a full year to accept that he was still alive.
In Rodney and Kaipara, the psychological first aid courses are offered to groups and workplaces by Simon Townsend of Pro+Med.
Simon says Covid-19 lockdowns have brought mental health awareness to the fore.
He believes everybody should do a psychological first-aid course because it might help them to save a family member or co-worker.
“The course doesn’t make you a psychologist, but it will help you to see if someone isn’t doing alright,” Simon says.
“Just like a broken leg or a heart attack, we should be able to identify mental illness and know how to respond.”
He says that in New Zealand there is a lack of trained first responders to address mental health related incidents. Police can respond if they believe that the person is an imminent threat to themselves or others, but they have limited training.
Where to get help …
Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor.
www.Depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202
Lifeline 0800 543 354
Rural Support Trust 0800 787 254
Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234
