10,000+ trained in Linden Oaks Mental Health First Aid program

Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville recently hosted a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training session that included the program’s 10,000th participant.

MHFA teaches people how to identify someone who may be experiencing a mental health crisis, effectively communicate with them, and guide them to appropriate professional help. The goal of MHFA training is to make responding to a mental health crisis as common as using CPR in a cardiac emergency.

Linden Oaks began MHFA training in 2011. Since then, more than 10,000 individuals in DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Lake, Cook and McHenry Counties have taken part in the eight-hour MHFA training sessions.

Participants learn the basics of common mental illnesses, including depression and related disorders; eating disorders; substance abuse; psychoses, such as dementia and schizophrenia; and anxiety disorders.

For more information about MHFA, visit www.lindenoaks.org/mentalhealthfirstaid, e-mail mhfa@eehealth.org or call (630) 646-5154.