Friday, 5 March 2010
What’s the difference?
What is the difference between a shopper and a shopper-holic. A shopper goes to the shops to buy something they want. The shopper-holic goes to the shops to see if there is anything that they can want to buy. On a biochemical level, the shopper-holic needs a dopamine fix before they get a seratonin boost. Dopamine is the wanting hormone, (the aptly named addiction hormone) seratonin is the blissed out because i got it hormone. Whoever would have thought shopping was so hormonal?
Thursday, 4 March 2010
They are all important but
I have been asked what I think are the most important skills when it comes to mental health first aid. It was tempting to say all of them but that would be a very short entry on this blog.
For me, and this is just my opinion two things that I think are essential are spotting things early on and listening skills.
Why? Because I so often see people getting this wrong or struggling with it. OK we all know that it is all too easy to try and say something helpful when you see someone is distress and then get it terribly wrong. We are all only human after all and the intention is often the more comforting part of the message. But when someone is in serious distress often the intentions of others are misread.
OK so spotting things early on, is the 'A' part of A.L.G.E.E. your knowledge of mental health and the risk factors will help you spot things that others might over look. Think of the man in the story below(I think I did OK), how many people might have walked past and not noticed? How long might he have suffered if it were not for the fact that his distress was spotted, by someone with a little know-how?
Then the listening skills, some of you will be tired of hearing this but for some it will be new. Listening is not just about sitting there and hearing what is said. Skilful listening is not a passive state. It is a dynamic expressive state, which requires considerable skill. You may have heard of reflective listening, or empathic listening and on the MHFA course we talk about non-judgemental listening. All these very skilful ways of communicating with an individual have very powerful effects. (See empathy and distress below)
The effects of skilful listening are to make the person being listened to feel understood, accepted, valued and important. Skilful listening reduces distress and brings comfort and makes recovery more likely. Skilful listening is a strangely intangible but wonderfully healing process. When you have been in the presence of a truly skilful listener even when you were not feeling bad you come away feeling better!
For me, and this is just my opinion two things that I think are essential are spotting things early on and listening skills.
Why? Because I so often see people getting this wrong or struggling with it. OK we all know that it is all too easy to try and say something helpful when you see someone is distress and then get it terribly wrong. We are all only human after all and the intention is often the more comforting part of the message. But when someone is in serious distress often the intentions of others are misread.
OK so spotting things early on, is the 'A' part of A.L.G.E.E. your knowledge of mental health and the risk factors will help you spot things that others might over look. Think of the man in the story below(I think I did OK), how many people might have walked past and not noticed? How long might he have suffered if it were not for the fact that his distress was spotted, by someone with a little know-how?
Then the listening skills, some of you will be tired of hearing this but for some it will be new. Listening is not just about sitting there and hearing what is said. Skilful listening is not a passive state. It is a dynamic expressive state, which requires considerable skill. You may have heard of reflective listening, or empathic listening and on the MHFA course we talk about non-judgemental listening. All these very skilful ways of communicating with an individual have very powerful effects. (See empathy and distress below)
The effects of skilful listening are to make the person being listened to feel understood, accepted, valued and important. Skilful listening reduces distress and brings comfort and makes recovery more likely. Skilful listening is a strangely intangible but wonderfully healing process. When you have been in the presence of a truly skilful listener even when you were not feeling bad you come away feeling better!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)