Another week, another Scottish Mental Health First Aid course completed.

I had a rewarding day delivering to The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice. It was especially great to work with all different staff, from support services to training to maintenance team. The training suite was gorge and has a stunning balcony. Fantastic scenery makes tricky topics slightly more digestible.

Speaking of tricky topics, how comfortable are you talking about suicide? With over 800 deaths by suicide per year, it’s such an important topic that we break the taboo about. This group pushed themselves outside their comfort zone and we had a great informed and open discussion about how to ask someone if they are thinking about taking their life.

If it’s something you want further training on, have a look at these courses. There’s also a great poster from the Scottish Association of Mental Health which guides you through the conversation.

Keep talking! It saves lives.