I think that it is a great concept to educate the general public about mental illness and mental health crises.  I think that if people are given tools to identify a family/friend in need before it comes to a crisis, then perhaps there can be an earlier intervention and decrease the need for acute hospitalizations - which are not a long term solution.

I have been impressed with some of the new programs that have developed in MN over the past ten years that train emergency personnel how to work with a person in crisis.  The police are usually the ones that get called when someone is suicidal, psychotic, out-of-control and their basic training can usually escalate a situation.  The Minneapolis PD has developed a special response unit of officers with extensive training that can respond to crises and provide options and support.

There are also new COPE (community outreach for psychiatric emergency) teams that are on call 24/7 to go into the community and evaluate persons who are at risk of or already in crisis and provide them with resources and on-site counseling.  This has decreased emergency room visits for evaluation and decreased hospitalizations by providing alternate crisis housing or support.  This has been invaluable with the shortage of beds in the state.  People are being shipped all over the state or even out-of-state for hospitalization or they can sit in emergency rooms for days without treatment or be admitted only to be discharged a day later with no changes.

Any improvements to community based treatment options and improved understanding of mental illness in general will go a long way to improve a system that just isn't working.  Perhaps if the general public is made more aware of the issues they will be more likely to advocate not just for treatment for their family/friends but for systems change on a government level. 

Hello Sue

If you would like to send me your postal address, I am happy to post you a complementary copy of our 2nd edn MHFA Manual, published February 2010.

Be assured that mental health consumers have had input into the MHFA training program from its inception.  Because of my experiences as a mental health consumer, with 2 admissions into a psychiatric word, I became aware of the need to try to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness in the public and some health professionals. Over two years, I developed this course as a volunteer.  Mental health consumers were part of the initial reference group and many of the instructors (who train in a 5-day course) are mental health consumers.  I do hope you will correct the text you have on this website about the MHFA Australia program.  Also, as with many education courses, they cannot address all issues in a topic as large and diverse as mental illness and recovery.  The MHFA Program is just one piece of the jigsaw of programs to enhance recovery for people experiencing a mental illness.  The MHFA Program is the very first early intervention to help a person to get appropriate professional help and other support as soon as possible.  It is  not a recover tool, nor a mental health promotion tool, not a course specifically for caregivers.