Mental Health First Aid For Armed Forces Community

We can deliver Mental Health First Aid - Armed Forces Community training to service personnel, veterans and their dependants. Just like the rest of the population, stigma and lack of awareness around our mental health compared to our physical health is often a barrier to armed forces personnel getting the treatment they need to recover.

We want to empower everyone in the military community to meet these challenges head on by equipping them with practical Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) skills.

MHFA training courses teach people to spot the symptoms of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide a person towards support.

We don’t teach people to be therapists, but we do teach people to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis - and even potentially stop a crisis from happening.

For everyone in the armed forces community – serving and ex-serving personnel, their families and support organisations – our training gives people the skills to:

• Stop a preventable health issue from escalating by spotting and addressing it early

• Know how and where to access treatment if it’s needed, for a faster recovery

• Help keep themselves, the people they support, their colleagues and their families healthy

• Minimise the impact of mental ill health on work and life

The Army Veterans Support Network connects Northern Ireland veterans through social meetups, information sharing and support services.