Free mental health first aid seminar in Hancock County

Members of the Hancock County community gathered for a seminar striving to aid mental health among the youth.

The Hancock County Foundation, along with the Mental Health Association of South Mississippi, provided a free mental health aid seminar for parents, teachers, caregivers, and resource workers.

The mental health first aid course educates participants on risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns as well as strategies for how to help someone both in crisis and non-crisis situations.

With the deaths of the two Bay St. Louis officers and the two teens at the post-prom party in Bay St. Louis, Hancock Health Foundation President Sherry Ponder hopes this seminar will aid the youth dealing with trauma in the county. “That trauma is what this program is helping to address. It teaches the participants to identify, understand, and respond to the behavior that indicates that someone is having a mental health crisis.”

Nicole Bedsole with Mental Health Association of South Mississippi said, “Mental health is very important. It’s so stigmatized. People don’t like to talk about it, but this is a free education program. Anybody can take it and learn about signs and symptoms that a youth might be going through just to help them. The most important thing you can do for a youth when they’re going through a crisis is listen to them.”

For more information on the four remaining sessions in Hancock County, visit msmentalhealth.org, scroll down to ‘mental health first aid’ and click ‘view program.’