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Our Opinion: Dialing 211 connects callers in need with caring voice

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Michael Flowers, Esq. was guest speaker at a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly at Wyoming Seminary

<p>If you saw someone trip and fall on the sidewalk, what would you do? Stop to see if they&#8217;re OK? Offer to help them up? Call for help if they&#8217;re injured?</p><p>But what if you saw a person who was agitated, confused or visibly upset? Would you be as willing to help? Probably not.</p><p>The fact is that most Americans are more comfortable helping someone in physical distress than someone in emotional distress. People learn CPR to know what to do in the event of a heart attack, but what if someone needs help while in emotional distress?</p><p>We have been lucky to be on the frontlines of a movement that is changing how America responds to mental illness and addictions.</p><p><a href="http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/cs/" target="_blank">Mental Health First Aid</a> teaches people to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses and addictions, safely help a person and avert a crisis. It also gives people the confidence to help someone in emotional distress, even if that intervention is only a friendly &#8220;Are you OK?&#8221;</p><p>Studies from around the world show that Mental Health First Aid expands the knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments and improves the mental health of both the person offering help and the one receiving it. A study of 301 randomized participants found that those who trained in Mental Health First Aid had greater confidence in providing help to others, greater likelihood of advising people to seek professional help and decreased stigmatizing attitudes.</p><p>The training is designed for people from all walks of life, from professionals such as police officers and teachers who regularly interact with a lot of people, to friends and family of individuals with mental illnesses or addictions. No longer is mental health care solely dependent on a small cadre of psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals. Mental Health First Aid teaches everyday people how to reach out with little acts of kindness that can let someone know they don&#8217;t have to struggle alone in silence.</p><p>It should be as common to be trained in Mental Health First Aid as it is to be trained in CPR. Maybe more common. Did you know that people are far more likely to come across someone in an emotional crisis than someone having a heart attack?</p><p>While it&#8217;s unlikely that someone will ever have to perform CPR, we have lost count of the number of people who put into practice their Mental Health First Aid training skills &#8211; sometimes even before the course is finished. It&#8217;s not unusual for course participants to share with a class that &#8220;I just used the Mental Health First Aid action plan to help someone in my family.&#8221;</p><p>The most frequent comment we hear from training participants is &#8220;I wish I had this training 10 years ago.&#8221; They then tell us the story of their family member, neighbor or co-worker who they wanted to help but simply didn&#8217;t know where to start.</p><p>Mental Health First Aid has given people worldwide the confidence to step forward to help someone developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.</p><p>We have seen firsthand how Mental Health First Aid makes a difference in the lives of us all. Today, we urge you to sign up for a training or ask your employer to bring a training to your office.</p><p>The need is real. More than 26 percent of Americans ages 18 and older &#8211; about one in four adults &#8211; has a diagnosable mental illness in a given year. To date, more than 500,000 Americans have been trained in Mental Health First Aid. We hope by this time next next year to increase that number to 1 million.</p><p>Will you be one?</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_JoeParks.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joe Parks</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_JoeParks.jpg</photo0><caption0>Joe Parks</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_SharonParks.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sharon Thomas-Parks</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_SharonParks.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sharon Thomas-Parks</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Joe Parks</p><p>and Sharon</p><p>Thomas-Parks</p><p>Contributing columnists</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p><strong>Joe Parks</strong> is the senior medical advisor to the National Council for Behavioral Health, a psychiatrist and distinguished professor at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. <strong>Sharon Thomas-Parks</strong> is a licensed professional counselor and a National Mental Health First Aid trainer.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Joe Parks and Sharon Thomas-Parks: Expand First Aid to include mental health