Margaret McCartney: If this was cancer there'd be an outcry-but it's mental health.

A million British volunteers will learn skills in mental health first aid, at a cost of £15m. The government, which is funding the exercise, says that this will improve “personal resilience” and “help people recognise and respond effectively to signs of mental illness in others.” This will include an online learning module “based on what has been shown to work, so that we can all be better at supporting people experiencing poor mental health.” Public Health England will also work with Mental Health First Aid England to build “on the knowledge and experience of the sector.” Theresa May has said that she wants to “use the power of government as a force for good to transform the way we deal with mental health problems right across society.” Even Jeremy Hunt has been on a mental health first aid course, where he discovered that “quite a lot of the course is about looking after your own mental wellbeing” and learnt how to “spot signs in others around you who might be experiencing difficulty.” Is this a good thing? One case study from 2016 cites an incident where a welfare benefits officer had mental health first aid training. When one man expressed suicidal thoughts after his money was cut, the benefits officer thought that she didn’t need to call the police—apparently the usual response—but could now encourage him to call the crisis team instead.