Courses > Youth MHFA Course

Youth Mental Health First Aid

14 hour Course

View the Course Outline

How adults can assist adolescents.

The statistics are damning…

Did you know that…

“20-30% of [Australia's] young people (20,000 to 30,000 per 100,000) are experiencing significant psychological distress at any one time.”

Eckersley, R. 2008, “Never better—or getting worse? The health and wellbeing of young Australians”, Australia21, www.australia21.org.au/whats_new.htm

And that…

“up to one in four young Australians are likely to suffer from a mental health problem, most commonly substance misuse or dependence, depression or anxiety disorder, or combinations of these.”
McGorry, et.al., Medical Journal of Australia (2007) 187:7.

And that..

“When countries for which suicide data are published by the World Health Organization are ranked according to rates for young males, Australia ranks in the highest third”
Harrison, J. et.al. Flinders University, http://www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/pubs/bulletin15/bulletin15sup.html

Those facts on youth mental health break my heart—and I bet they do yours too!

  • Imagine for a moment though, if every adult Australian had the basic knowledge to recognise the early symptoms of mental illness in young people and were able to guide that young person to appropriate professional help.
  • How many young lives could be saved from clinical depression, anxiety and/or substance use disorder, or even suicide?… Quite possibly thousands.
  • Well, that’s what the Youth Mental Health First Aid course teaches adults to do—to recognise the early signs and symptoms of mental illness in young people and to help guide them to appropriate professional help.
  • The Youth Mental Health First Aid course, as designed and adapted by the Orygen Research Centre, is a must for anyone with children turning into young adults and for all those who work with young adults (e.g., teachers, community workers, youth workers, nursing professionals etc.).

The Youth Mental Health First Aid training can help you to help a troubled teenager you may know.

Please see the full Youth MHFA Course Outline

Contact MindSavers or telephone 1300 842 040 to find out more about this renowned course, to reserve a place, or to schedule an in-house course for your group or business.