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As reported in today’s Daily Mail, Prince Harry has been speaking about his experiences training as an Armed Forces Mental Health First Aider and his desire to use these skills to support military veterans.
According to The Daily Mail, a source for The Prince commented, ‘Through his work with the personal recovery unit he (Prince Harry) attended a two-day course about how to help people with mental health issues in the veterans context.' The source added, 'It's about mental health first aid: what do you do when someone comes to you, what words should you use, which direction can you point them in. It also went through the range of issues veterans face. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) isn’t the stigma that it once was, but it is sometimes used as a catch-all diagnosis when other issues such as depression and anxiety may be more appropriate.'
Mental Health First Aid England are delighted to see members of the royal family leading discussions and campaigns around mental health and talking about their experiences of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). We look forward to working with other members of the royal family in the future to continue efforts to improve awareness of mental health issues and to reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill health in communities across the country, including the armed forces.
Mental ill health is a pertinent issue for members of the armed forces past and present. In 2014/15, 4,858 of UK Armed Forces personnel were assessed as having a mental health issue and in 2010 164 personnel had to leave the Forces because of a psychological condition. Armed Forces Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) has been specifically designed to meet the needs of the whole Armed Forces community, including serving personnel, veterans, friends and family, and people who work with or support them.
Since 2013 MHFA England has trained over 6,000 members of the armed forces community in Armed Forces MHFA. Everyone on an Armed Forces MHFA course is taught a set of skills which equips them to support someone experiencing mental health issues. Independent research and evaluation shows that taking part in an Armed Forces MHFA course raises awareness and reduces stigma around mental ill health, boosts knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, encourages people to start a conversation with a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue and promotes early intervention which enables recovery.