What officers may not realize is how incredibly common mental illnesses are within the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), nearly 1 in 5 American adults live with a mental illness. To put this in perspective, in 2019, this was approximately 51.5 million adults.
The gravity of this situation is heavy, as it guarantees officers will often interact with individuals suffering from mental illnesses throughout their career. However, do note that the severity of one’s condition will range from little/no impairment to severe impairment, meaning it will not always be noticeable.
Breaking Down Mental Illness
MIMH breaks down mental illness into two categories: Any Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI). AMI is defined as “a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder” and encompasses all recognized mental illnesses. These include: depression, anxiety, dementia, PTSD, etc., ranging from little/no impairment to moderate.
As for SMI, it is defined as “mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities” and encompasses a much smaller, though more severe subset of AMI. In being more severe, it is especially important for officers to recognize various mental illnesses and know the best methods of communication. After all, the right actions can protect the life of the responding officer, the life of the subject and the well-being of the community.
Mental Illness Training Curriculum
Due to an increase in mental health awareness—and unfortunately, incidents between the mentally ill and officers which end up as headlines—VirTra created the nationally-certified V-VICTA “Mental Illness Training: A Practical Approach” curriculum. This progressive curriculum covers multiple common mental illnesses and disorders officers must be conscious of, including:
• Anxiety
• Dementia
• Depression
• PTSD
• Schizophrenia
• Substance Use
• Suicide
• Traumatic Brain Injury
While this curriculum is not meant to train officers to diagnose disorders, it instead provides tools to recognize symptoms and knowledge to deploy the correct communication techniques for the situation.
In addition to symptom awareness and recognition, implementing this curriculum in training helps officers to break stigmas, show empathy and know when/how to stage medical personnel. The mental illness curriculum consists of presentations, lesson plans and corresponding scenarios, allowing officers to learn each mental illness before engaging with it in the simulator—thus learning to correctly identify mental illnesses while building connections with various subjects on-screen.
Guided by this nationally-certified curriculum, officers increase the probability of having mental illness encounters end on a positive note. Start implementing this curriculum into your training regime by contacting a VirTra specialist.
Earlier this year, VirTra submitted and received certification on the curriculum “Mental Illness: A Practical Approach.” This curriculum covers the signs and symptoms associated with different mental illnesses as well as communication and intervention techniques. Most importantly, officers will learn how respond to the specific behaviors a person displays instead of focusing on the mental illness itself. People should be treated as individuals and not as their diagnosis.
One of the mental illnesses covered in the curriculum is Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects about 1% of the national population. Schizophrenia can interfere with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, manage emotions and relate to others. The severity of unmanaged schizophrenia can be extremely debilitating and disabling.
Depending on the severity of the schizophrenia, an individual may experience hallucinations or delusions. Hallucinations are false perceptions and experiences absent certain stimuli and can manifest as visual, auditory, olfactory or tactile. Delusions are false beliefs that conflict with reality. Hallucinations and delusions are common with schizophrenia, but that does not mean that person has a schizophrenia diagnosis.
A person with schizophrenia may also experience psychosis. Psychosis describes a condition where an individual has lost touch with reality, usually aligned with severe disturbances in behavior, cognitive processing and emotional regulation. The disturbance in perception makes it challenging for an individual to determine what is real and what is not. This can be especially challenging for officers.
Instead of focusing on a diagnosis, officers will learn to respond to the behaviors and clarity in thought process an person exhibits at the time of contact. This allows officers to coordinate an intervention response that is as safe and effective as possible for everyone involved. Each section of VirTra’s “Mental Illness: A Practical Approach” goes further in-depth in recognition of signs and symptoms as well as effective and safe intervention techniques.
For each curriculum, instructors are given slide presentations, booklets, pre- and post-tests, evaluation forms and simulator scenarios. This allows officers to learn the material in the classroom, then implement their new training in a real-life situation displayed in the simulator. Training in this manner ensures officers are well-rounded and skills are easily transferred to the field.
VirTra’s “Mental Illness: A Practical Approach” is part of V-VICTA, is NCP certified and meets rigorous quality training standards for the curriculum. This includes extensive research, citations, correct knowledge retention format, comprehensive testing materials and more.
Author:
Nicole Florisi started her public safety career in 1999 as a communication specialist. In 2002, she became a certified peace officer for the state of Arizona. She has been a law enforcement trainer and instructor for the past 15 years. Her areas of expertise are in crisis intervention and de-escalation, crisis negotiations, child abduction response, domestic violence, and human trafficking. She was also a Drug Recognition Expert and Instructor, Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor, and forensic phlebotomist. Nicole was the lead negotiator for the regional SWAT team for 12 years.
Mental Illness training is no longer important knowledge: it is crucial knowledge.
Now more than ever, officers must know how to properly recognize and interact with every member of their community. VirTra makes teaching this curriculum easy and effective by providing instructors with 15 hours of nationally-certified training material and professionally filmed simulation training scenarios.
Our Mental Illness Training: A Practical Approach curriculum includes training manuals, slide presentations, pre and post-tests, evaluations and real-life scenarios to help instructors teach the concept in the classroom, then cement the teachings by practicing the concepts in a simulator.
This training also includes interviews with individuals that have experienced mental illness and what they feel law enforcement should know from their perspective. These insightful videos are critical in helping with empathy and understanding.
Through this curriculum, officers learn to recognize a variety of mental illness symptoms—including depression, suicide, anxiety, trauma, PTSD and schizophrenia—and communicate and engage in the proper techniques for the situation.
Learn more about our Mental Illness training here.
Or watch officers engage in real Mental Illness scenarios below:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to find other ways of maximizing training with VirTra’s curriculum.
These are difficult times to be a law enforcement officer. Already, policing is a difficult profession, more than the public realizes. No other profession requires the balance of perfect verbal de-escalation, soft and soothing mannerisms, an authoritative presence and skills to handle any person’s symptoms—all while being combat-ready and prepared for split-second moments that could be the difference between life and death.
Add these pressures to the terrible actions and events officers see and must interact with, and it is no wonder policing has a PTSD crisis.
PTSD in the Industry
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is becoming an ever-increasing difficulty plaguing law enforcement. Currently, it is estimated that PTSD and depression effect between 7% and 35% of officers [1,2].
Policing was complicated enough to begin with before 2020 brought new challenging events to law enforcement. This started with the first wave of COVID-19, quickly followed by riots, looting and civil unrest, which is still carrying on today.
If this wasn’t enough, consider the sharp contrast between being hailed as an essential worker, a hero of the community, then having every officer blamed for the death of certain individuals. Naturally, this would cause havoc on psychological health.
A recent online Police1 survey received 1,355 active-duty law enforcement officer responses. Of this number, “47% of the sample screened positive for PTSD, which is approximately 9 to 10 times greater than the prevalence seen in the general population.” Going one step further, 29% of responding officers had moderate to very severe anxiety and 37% tested for moderate to very severe depression. This number is roughly 5 times greater than the prevalence seen in the general population. So, what signs should officers look for in their co-workers and how do we prevent this?
Signs/Symptoms of PTSD
The most common signs of PTSD are: the inability to think clearly, not sleeping well (often due to nightmares), recklessness, constantly triggered by an event, going to great lengths to avoid similar situations and so forth.
Unfortunately, PTSD can be caused by a variety of factors: events involving children, serious on-the-job injuries and officer-related shootings are common ones, though any event can spark PTSD.
Preventing and Helping PTSD
The most important thing for officers and leadership to know, besides recognizing PTSD, is knowing how to help and prevent it—for both themselves and their fellow officers.
Instructors can implement techniques such as trauma and stress inoculation training or trauma awareness. Leaders can encourage officers to speak to a department psychologist after a difficult situation. Officers can utilize free resources such as Copline to speak to retired officers who understand and have undergone similar situations.
Talking about PTSD is more important now than ever. As shown in the P1 survey, many officers are reluctant to seek services due to the stigma that surrounds it. They worry that assistance would be seen as a weakness, and they fear job loss and other repercussions in the workplace.
Changing this stigma will take everyone. Police Chiefs, instructors, sergeants, fellow officers—this is a discussion we need to start now. Together, law enforcement is looking out for each other. Together, we are silent no more.
References:
1. Ruderman Family Foundation. The Ruderman White Paper on Mental Health and Suicide in First Responders, 2018.
2. Yuan C, Wang Z, et al. Protective factors for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in a prospective study of police officers. Psychiatry Research, 2011, 188:45-50.
Recently, VirTra’s “Mental Illness Training: A Practical Approach” training was nationally-certified through IADLEST’s NCP program. This unique V-VICTA curriculum contains 15 hours of nationally-certified training material that contains 10 lessons, an in-depth instructor booklet and corresponding training slides.
One of the topics covered in this Mental Illness training for law enforcement is Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. While this may seem out of place in the Mental Illness curriculum, TBI is in fact a big risk factor for conditions such as neurocognitive disorders, substance abuse and more.
About TBI
Simply put, TBI is caused by a sudden injury to the head that causes damage to the brain. This can be classified as one of two injuries: closed head or penetrating injury. These are fairly self-explanatory; closed head injuries are caused by a blow bump or jolt to the head while penetrating injuries are caused by an object penetrating the head.
Since the definition is wide, TBI can be sustained in many places and among any age group. This includes head trauma caused during intense sports such as football or soccer, falling, active duty combat or car accidents. Penetrating injuries are more intense and caused by more extreme actions, such as shrapnel, being hit by weapons such as hammers or baseball bats, or other injuries powerful enough to cause bone fragments to penetrate the skull.
Symptoms of TBI
TBI symptoms can range from mild to severe, depending on the injury and degree of severity. A good example of mild TBI are concussions, which many people have experienced and recovered from. However, the more intense forms and symptoms of TBI include serious physical and psychological symptoms, comas or even death.
Symptoms of Mild TBI: These include brief loss of consciousness, headaches, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision and trouble with memory, concentration, attention and thinking.
Symptoms of Severe TBI: Just as the cause is more severe, so are the symptoms. Officers can look for: worsening headaches, repeated nausea and/or vomiting, larger pupil(s), slurred speech, loss of coordination, weakness and/or numbness and increased confusion, restlessness and agitation.
Officer Training of TBI
As an officer, you cannot diagnose a subject with TBI or any other mental illness unless you have the proper training and credentials. Instead of teaching officers to diagnose, VirTra’s Mental Illness curriculum is designed to teach officers how to recognize a variety of potential mentally ill subjects, the best forms of interaction and how to maximize officer and subject safety.
Through these 15 certified hours and corresponding real-life scenarios, officers learn appropriate verbalization techniques, can demonstrate they recognize the different behaviors displayed and how to implement the best response through every step of the interaction. Learn more about our Mental Illness training here or view the list of V-VICTA law enforcement curriculum here.
If your department could benefit from our Mental Illness curriculum, contact a VirTra specialist today.
Reference:
“Traumatic Brain Injury | TBI.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 30 July 2020, medlineplus.gov/traumaticbraininjury.html.
Schizophrenia, psychosis and mood disorders are often misunderstood by the public. Though it only affects a small percentage of the population, stigmas fueled by the media have caused some people to view it as a disorder that triggers violence in the people it affects.¹ Law enforcement must be cautious not to fall for such stereotypes or make assumptions based on the diagnosis.
Schizophrenia, as stated before, only affects around 1% of the national population. An even smaller fraction of those affected by schizophrenia and similar disorders have a marked increase in violence. Data shows that people with schizophrenia are actually 14 times more likely to become a victim of a crime than be arrested. ² What may increase the chances of violence, however, are the use of drugs and alcohol in combination with any disorder.
So how can an officer – or anyone, really – tell if a person they are interacting with might have schizophrenia or a similar disorder? Everyone shows symptoms differently, but in order to have a true diagnosis, a person must display certain “positive” and “negative” symptoms. Positive and negative, in this case, don’t mean whether the symptoms are positively or negatively affecting someone, but rather about adding and subtracting symptoms.
Positive symptoms:
• Hallucinations (false perceptions)
• Delusions (false beliefs that conflict with reality)
• Thought disorders
• Movement disorders
Negative symptoms:
• Reduced expression of voice tone and facial expressions
• Reduced feelings of pleasure
• Difficulty beginning and sustaining activities
• Reduced speaking
Those experiencing schizophrenia may also express cognitive symptoms such as difficulty focusing, memory problems or decision-making.
For the V-VICTA™ curriculum “Mental Illness for Contact Professionals,” VirTra staff got a chance to speak with a woman who lives with schizoaffective disorder. M – a woman in her 20’s – takes medication to control the effects of her mental illness that cause her to experience visual and auditory hallucinations as well as paranoia.
One night, M was pulled over for speeding and was visibly nervous. Due to her shaking, the officer began to ask pressing questions and seemed to believe she was on drugs. After explaining what medication she was taking, the officer let her go, but she needed to go to the hospital later on due to the trauma it caused.
“I was having all these other voices, it’s just very overwhelming” M said about the incident. We asked M what she would want officers to know about her mental illness. “Really, we’re just trying to go about our lives, do our own thing and be normal,” she replied. “Of course, sometimes it can get dangerous, anyone can get dangerous. It just really bothers me that schizophrenia is painted as this monster mental illness, and it’s not that way at all.”
While it is important to be aware of potential dangers, remember to avoid falling into the traps of stereotypes and stigmas. The first step to doing this is to understand the types of mental illness that can affect people from all walks of life – not only schizophrenia. By using the “Mental Illness for Contact Professionals” V-VICTA course, VirTra aims to prepare law enforcement for any kind of interaction.
References:
1. Wehring, H. J., & Carpenter, W. T. (2011). Violence and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia bulletin, 37(5), 877–878. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbr094
2. Brekke JS, Prindle C, Bae SW, Long JD. Risks for individuals with schizophrenia who are living in the community. Psychiatry Serv. 2001;52:1358–1366.
3. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Schizophrenia. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Schizophrenia
Neurocognition is an important function that allows us to think, remember, understand language, use motor movements and perform routine tasks. When these functions decline, it may be due to a Neurocognitive Disorder, (NCD’s). Common examples of NCDs are Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Frontotemporal Dementia. Dementia is an umbrella term for numerous types of NCD’s. For example, Alzheimer’s is a disease and dementia is not.
The main trait of NCDs is that they cause decline in previously attained levels of neurocognitive function. NCDs are not developmental, but are acquired and are the result of an underlying brain pathology, most commonly affecting the elderly population. Major cognitive disorders affect approximately 1-2% of people by age 65, and 30% by 85.
Signs that a person may be suffering from an NCD include:
• Memory impairment
• Difficulty concentrating, planning or problem-solving
• Problems finishing tasks
• Confusion with location or passage of time
• Language problems
• Poor judgment in decisions
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common NCD, accounting for about 70% of cases. That being the case, officers may interact with people who have Alzheimer’s more frequently than other types of NCD’s.
Officers must be aware that while not all behavior is dangerous, people with Alzheimer’s (or other NCD’s) may display aggressive behavior – both verbally and physically.
To manage behavior and avoid confrontation if possible, officers should identify themselves and speak in a slow, non-threatening manner. Ask one question at a time and repeat yourself if necessary, while asking simple yes or no questions. It may be wise to avoid using restraints unless absolutely needed because they may increase agitation.
IACP recommends that officers ask the following basic questions when encountering someone who they believe to be suffering from Alzheimer’s or Dementia:
• Where are you coming from? Where are you going?
• What route are you taking to get there? Who are you meeting?
• What is your name and address? What is your phone number?
• What day of the week/month is it?
• What city and state are we in?
• What time is it right now? (Answer should be correct within one hour)
If the individual cannot answer the questions or gives incorrect answers, the person should be moved to a safe and comfortable location and officers should attempt to locate their family or caregiver. Officers should also check for a tracking device or Medic Alert Alzheimer’s Association and Safe Return ID.
Keep in mind the best practices for law enforcement during these encounters. Recognizing the signs and managing behaviors are the most important tools for dealing with NCDs.
References
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fifth edition (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Association; 2013
Simpson JR. DSM-5 and Neurocognitive Disorders. (2014). The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. June 2014;42(2):159-164.
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (n.d.) Model Policy for Missing Persons with Alzheimer’s. Retrieved from http://alzaware.org/Content/PDFs/IACP-Model-Alzheimers-Policy.pdf
You may think Traumatic Brain Injury seems out of place as a topic in VirTra’s Mental Illness V-VICTA™ curriculum , but it is actually a big risk factor for conditions such as neurocognitive disorders, substance abuse and more. Traumatic Brain Injuries, commonly shortened to “TBI,” can be life threatening on their own and are a condition that officers must be aware of.
What is a TBI?
A TBI is caused by a jolt to the head or penetrating head injury that disrupts normal function of the brain. Depending on the severity of the injury, an individual may experience a brief change in mental status to an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia.
TBI can be caused by head trauma sustained during sports such as football or baseball, falling (especially in young children and the elderly), and active duty combat. It is diagnosed with thorough clinical and physical exams along with review of their cognitive ability before and after the event.
What are the after-effects?
Some after-effects include post-concussion syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Post-concussion syndrome occurs when concussion symptoms last much longer than usual – months or even years following the trauma. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative disorder that is only diagnosed after death, but results from repetitive injury to the brain.
What Should Law Enforcement Officers Know About Traumatic Brain Injuries?
TBI symptoms can appear as physical, cognitive and emotional issues. Some of these include:
Physical: headaches, dizziness, sleep problems, fatigue, light sensitivity
Cognitive: difficulty concentrating, gaps in memory, slowed thinking, difficulty finding words
Emotional: Irritability, anxiety, depression, mood swings, personality changes
If the TBI includes frontal lobe injuries, the subject may experience aggression and difficulty controlling impulses and inhibition. There is a link between TBI and criminal activity that shows 60.3% of adults who have committed a crime have screened positive for TBI (2014).
An individual with TBI can have varying behaviors. The kind that law enforcement usually responds to are associated with aggression and impulse control. If the signs and symptoms are not recognized during interaction, they can impede proper communication.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Surveillance Report of Traumatic Brain Injury-related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths—United States, 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders. (2015). Traumatic Brain Injury: Hope Through Research. NINDS, Publication date September 2015. NIH Publication No. 15-2478
- Kocka, A., & Gagnon, J. (2014). Definition of Impulsivity and Related Terms Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Review of the Different Concepts and Measures Used to Assess Impulsivity, Disinhibition and other Related Concepts. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 4(4), 352–370.
As you may be aware, IADLEST offers a National Certification Program (NCP), which serves as a standard for police training. As such, the program sets a higher standard of training for training companies—such as VirTra—and vendors to provide quality education and training content to our law enforcement nationwide.
NCP certification standards meet and often exceed individual State certification requirements, ensuring training is accepted by all participating POST organizations for training credit.
For this reason and more, VirTra has been submitting V-VICTA™—Virtual Interactive Coursework Training Academy—curriculum for NCP certification. VirTra is currently the only simulator company that offers certified curriculum for officers, which comes free with every law enforcement simulator.
With the NCP seal proudly displayed on the front of each coursework, agencies know they are provided with content that has gone through a rigorous approval process and meets most POST standards.
In addition to providing quality training to officers, V-VICTA certified curriculum also saves agencies time and money. Think about how many department resources are spent reviewing training, the time and money required to approve a single hour of curriculum.
Or consider the millions of dollars cities spend defending themselves or settling lawsuits due to lack of training and police wrongdoings. Litigation fees, settlement fees and court-ordered payments can all be minimized with officers who are properly and adequately trained. Officers trained to react appropriately to a variety of situations are far less likely to find themselves involved in lawsuits due to alleged wrongdoing.
However, creating these coursework materials is no easy task. When preparing to submit materials for certification, VirTra must meet a series of general requirements, such as: extensive research, citations, having correct knowledge retention format, comprehensive testing materials, scoring rubric, pre-test, post-test, class evaluation forms and much more.
Once submitted, the curriculum is thoroughly reviewed and vetted by professionals in the field. Professionals include some with Masters degrees in Instructional Design and Education Technology and years of real-world experience. Curriculum is then returned in a few weeks with any edits, comments and final approval or rejection. With approval comes a two-year certification and promise to our clients with the highest quality training.
To date, VirTra has submitted 17 V-VICTA courses through NCP with a total of 60+ hours. Our most recent certified curriculum was Autism Awareness, a combination of classroom materials and interactive scenarios designed to help officers distinguish autistic behavior from those that mimic others, such as indicators for drug/alcohol use or deceptive behavior.
This curriculum was co-created through a partnership with SARRC—Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center—and utilizes their industry insight and expertise. Together, this partnership resulted in curriculum that helps mitigate the difficulties law enforcement face when encountering people who may be on the spectrum.
Other critical curriculum created for law enforcement include: Active Threat/Active Killer, Contact and Cover Concepts, High-Risk Vehicle Stop, Mental Illness for Contact Professionals, Tourniquet Application Under Threat and more. Each of these curricula are NCP certified, ensuring the highest quality for agencies that implement this curriculum into their training sessions.
Instructors can train well, knowing all content is up-to-date, certified and designed for maximum skill transfer. To learn more about VirTra’s NCP-approved curriculum, please contact a specialist.
6.9% of adults in the United States – 16 million – have suffered from at least one major depressive episode in the past year. Chances are most of us know someone with depression , and with a staggering statistic like this, it is even more likely law enforcement officers have encountered subjects suffering from depression. A person with depression can function normally in society or have their daily life severely impacted.
However likely it is an officer will interact with a person suffering from depression, it is not their job to diagnose. This information, as well as lessons provided in the V-VICTA™ “Mental Illness for Contact Professionals” course, is meant to provide law enforcement with additional tools and insight in encounters where a person appears to be suffering from mental illness.
Signs of Depression
Depression is more than feeling sad or depressed for a fleeting moment. Instead, people diagnosed with depression are often undergoing a daily struggle with controlling negative emotions. While it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of depression, some triggers may include: a chemical imbalance in the brain, severe stress or living in an unstable environment.
The following list of signs and symptoms is not all-inclusive. Rather, it provides a general look at what first responders may notice or learn about when interacting with a subject who suffers from depression:
• Subject feels sad, empty, hopeless and/or pessimistic.
• Loss of self-esteem and self-worth.
• Loss of interest in hobbies and fun activities.
• Abnormal sleep patterns, such as oversleeping or not getting enough sleep.
• Decreased energy and fatigue.
• Difficulty concentrating and sitting still.
• Changes in weight and appetite.
• In rare cases, depression can cause psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations.
Crisis Behaviors
Unfortunately, depression can lead to extreme behaviors not seen in otherwise mentally well persons . For those unaware of the crisis behaviors, they may come as a shock and leave officers feeling unprepared. It is recommended that when a crisis occurs, mental health support staff should be utilized. With severe events, medical staff should be staged nearby so the subject can receive immediate medical attention if necessary.
With severe depression, people may consider suicide or attempt it. In situations where a subject is deemed suicidal, it is imperative to talk to them and find out more information. Ask them if they are considering suicide, if they have a plan and what the plan might be. This allows the officer to determine the level of suicidality to determine next steps. Remember, saying the words “suicide” or “killing yourself” will not put the idea into the person’s head. A person discussing suicide may be desperately asking for help.
Depression can cause people to intentionally cause physical injury to themselves, which is known as Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI). Typically, this manifests as cutting, bruising, inserting objects into the skin, etc. This becomes more than a mental health crisis, often a physical one, depending on the severity of the injuries.
How to Help & Communicate
Officers can help subjects suffering from depression by speaking to the subject calmly, directly and openly. Allow the person to express their feelings without interruption or expressing your own thoughts or feelings—do not make them feel judged. It is important to make them feel their feelings are accepted and active listening plays a significant role in helping a person feel understood.
Most importantly, encourage the depressed subject to seek help. Just because a person is not actively suicidal or engaging in NSSI does not mean behavior health intervention is not needed.
For more information on depression and other mental illnesses, visit the V-VICTA “Mental Illness for Contact Professionals” lesson plan. Instructors can learn more about V-VICTA and how to incorporate it into training here.
References:
National Alliance on Mental Health. (n.d). Mental Health by the Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/ Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers1.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fifth edition (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Association; 2013
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.) Depression. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health- Conditions/Depression
Nock MK, Favazza AR. (2009). Nonsuicidal self-injury: definition and classification. Understanding Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Origins, Assessment, and Treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2009:9–18