How to help others
Simple steps to help someone find mental health support & further responder training opportunities
Need to speak to someone? Explore the mental health services available to you, including 24/7 support over call.
If you or someone around you are in a crisis situation, contact or immediately.
Do you feel confident to help someone you care about get support for their mental health?
We all need help at some point in our lives, but sometimes it takes another person to tell us to seek the right support. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but often people can feel overwhelmed, awkward, worried or like they don't really need or deserve help.
That’s why when you notice changes in a person's behaviour, emotions, study habits or health, it’s important that you reach out to them and act.
By encouraging a person to take steps towards seeking professional help earlier on, you may sometimes prevent them from getting to the point of crisis at a later stage.
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Sometimes the person in need of help might be you yourself. The hardest part is often realising this on your own, but after you do, everything becomes a bit easier.
Reaching out for support will help you move on from where you are right now.
Check out the story from Austin below, in which he reflects on how asking for help made a real difference to his life.
Always remember
Supporting others with getting help does not mean taking on the responsibility to solve their problems yourself. It is always better to guide the people you care about to professionals, such as counsellors and , who are trained to offer the best support possible.
If you want to be more involved in supporting others, a good place to start is mental health responder training. Check out the training opportunities available to you below.
See also
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Understand the signs that indicate that someone you know, or even you yourself, might need some help and support:
- Behaviour
- Emotions
- Study habits
- Physical health
- Behaving unusually
- Avoiding tasks or responsibilities
- Withdrawing socially/verbally/emotionally
- Neglecting self-care
- Being agitated or excessively demanding when interacting with others
- Excessively or uncharacteristically using alcohol or other drugs
- Being more impulsive
- Taking more risks
- Talking of suicidal or violent acts towards themself or others
- Taking about plans or action towards suicide or self-harm
If you or someone else are at risk of harm to yourself or others, contact .
- Being tearful
- Sighing frequently
- Appearing vague
- Seeming confused
- Experiencing high levels of anxiety or having panic attacks
- Expressing anger unpredictably
- Displaying agitation
- Exhibiting thoughts or speech patterns that seem pressured or odd
- Being in a sustained depressed mood
- Displaying sustained irritability
- Frequently expressing negative thoughts and opinions
If you or someone else isn’t feeling like normal, explore available mental health support.
- Marked changes in concentration or academic / workplace performance
- Increased occasions of uncompleted academic tasks or neglect of personal responsibilities
- Loss of motivation
- Academic failure
If you’re worried or wish to get guidance about anything, from your academic progress to your finances, you can reach out to a .
- Looking pale, perspiring excessively or having breathing difficulties
- Fainting or losing consciousness
- Having muscular spasms
- Feeling intense pain or extreme fatigue
- Complaining of sleep problems or falling asleep in unexpected circumstances
- Having regular episodes of illness, colds, flu etc.
If you are concerned about your physical health, contact the ʹڲƱ Health Service.
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Prepare
- Consider your own wellbeing and capacity to support someone else with theirs.
- Decide on a good time and place to reach out to them, somewhere where they can relax and open up without others listening.
- Think about changes in their behaviour you have observed and how to compassionately express your concerns.
Reach out
- Ask them how they are.
- Use open-ended questions like “What’s been going on for you?” or “How have you been feeling lately?”.
- If they say they are fine, you can check by saying “It’s just you don’t seem your usual self recently”.
- It can be helpful to mention any changes that you have noticed, for example “I have noticed you haven’t been coming to XXX recently, is there a reason you haven’t been attending?” or “I’ve noticed you look / seem XXX more lately, is everything ok? I’m worried about you”.
Listen
- Give them space and time to open up. Use minimal prompts if they are struggling, such as “It’s okay, I know this is hard, take your time”.
- Consider your body language and eye contact.
- Try not to jump in and ‘solve’ their problems.
- Find out how long they have been feeling this way and if they have been getting any help.
Hear from Empathy Researcher Brene Brown on how to provide .
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Connect them to the support they need
- Reassure them that help is available and getting help early means they will feel better quicker.
- Ask them what has helped in the past.
- Make suggestions of ʹڲƱ or external services that can help, giving them control of what happens next.
- Explain how they can access these services and offer to help them make an appointment.
- Find out if they have any supportive friends or family that they might want to talk to.
The best place to start for mental health support at ʹڲƱ is Mental Health Connect.
What if they don’t want to access help?
Everyone has the right to refuse help if they don’t want it – unless they are in crisis situation. *
- Find out why they don’t want help and correct any misinformation that is acting as a barrier (e.g. providing information on free services if they are worried about cost).
- Continue to encourage them without nagging.
- Check back in again after a few days.
* If someone is at severe or immediate risk of harming themselves or others, you may need to seek emergency assistance for them against their wishes. Call Mental Health Connect on 9385 5418 for advice on what you should do. If in an immediate emergency call Campus Security on 9385 6666 if on campus or Triple Zero on 000 if off campus.
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Good job - you have reached out to someone you are worried about and had a conversation, now it’s time to care for you!
Understanding and compassionately holding your boundaries in these situations is also an important part of self-care.
Even if the conversation didn’t go as you had hoped, you’ve still shown the person that you care and want to help.
Make sure you take the time to look after your own wellbeing with self-care.
If you think your own mental health has been impacted, please find support through Mental Health Connect.
ʹڲƱ mental health training framework for students
| Tier 1 | How to Help a Friend |
|---|---|
| Tier 2 | Recognise and Respond |
| Tier 3 | Mental Health First Aid |
- How to Help a Friend
- Recognise & Respond
- Mental Health First Aid
When we struggle with life, it can be hard to reach out for help or even have a conversation about how we feel. Sometimes we mask our real emotions, hoping that others won’t see them. As a friend, watching your mate struggle can be challenging. Do you say something? And if you do, what should you say?
How to Help a Friend training is a one-off, 1–2 hour interactive workshop delivered by students, for students.
The training is available in person or online and aims to build your confidence in:
- Identifying the red flags that indicate someone may be experiencing a mental health concern
- Reaching out and checking in with a friend or peer
- Providing information about available ʹڲƱ support services for students.
Reaching out to a friend early on can sometimes get them to access the support they need before they reach crisis point.
Who should attend the training?
We recommend you complete How to Help a Friend training especially if you are in a leadership or volunteering role, but the training is available to all interested students.
You can attend How to Help a Friend training yourself or organise an exclusive session for your student society or team.
Note: How to Help a Friend is a Tier 1 mental health training course. To decide if this is the right course for you, check out other available student training workshops from the mental health training framework above.
as rated by students for the overall training.
of participants felt confident to offer support after the workshop.
Interested?
To express your interest for How to Help a Friend training, either individually or as a student society or team, fill out our form below.
ʹڲƱ Health and Wellbeing is pleased to partner with Black Dog Institute to offer subsidised suicide prevention training to students and staff so our community can learn warning signs, what questions to ask and how to get help.
Recognise and Respond: Suicide prevention for everyday life aims to assist in reducing and preventing suicide in Australia by equipping people with the skills to intervene with someone who is contemplating suicide.
The program aims to ensure that, should signs of suicidality appear in anyone within our community, both staff and students remain equipped with the skills they need in order to prevent further harm and loss. Having a conversation with someone who may be at risk of suicide may happen at any point in life.
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The loss of anyone to suicide is devastating for individuals, families and the community surrounding them. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 15 - 44 in Australia, and the complexity of preventing suicide differs from region to region.
As part of ʹڲƱ's Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy, ʹڲƱ has made a commitment to investing in the well-being of our students and engaging in collaborative and innovative research projects that centre student voices.
Suicide prevention is a particularly complex and crucial element of student mental health and wellbeing. To ensure that there is an effective framework embedded into our support services, an additional suicide prevention strategy has been created as an appendix to the Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy, aligned to the same strategic priorities of Prepare, Prevent and Respond. This Strategy represents the university-wide commitment to understanding student suicide, mitigating risk, appropriate intervention and providing support to those in need.
Learn more about our Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy.
What will I learn?
Recognise and Respond: Suicide Prevention for everyday life is a self-directed e-learning module comprising of four main learning components:
- Recognising the signs of suicide
- Having a conversation with and supporting the person
- Providing help to the person
- Self-care.
The learning experience includes interactive activities, videos depicting interactions between a person experiencing thoughts of suicide and a helper, and a quiz to test your knowledge. The module takes approximately 60 minutes to complete.
How can I enrol?
ʹڲƱ students and staff can enrol in subsidised training; however, places are limited.
Use the code ʹڲƱ2025 to register.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) provides in-depth, evidence-based knowledge about mental health intervention through an internationally recognised training program.
MHFA workshops are ideal for student leaders and peer educators, and cover steps to:
- Recognise when a friend or colleague might be struggling
- Reach out and have a conversation
- Refer a student to the right place should they need support.
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Take a Standard MHFA Refresher course instead!
If you are within 3 years of becoming initially accredited, you can complete the Refresher course to renew your accreditation for an additional 3 years. The Refresher course is a half-day in-person workshop with no pre-learning.
We recommend you complete the Refresher course 2.5 to 3 years after completing your first Mental Health First Aid course.
Please note
If you have completed a Refresher course in the past, you cannot complete a second Refresher course.
You will need to attend the full Mental Health First Aid course again to maintain accreditation. If you are unsure about your eligibility, please check with MHFA Australia before registering.
Types of MHFA training available at ʹڲƱ
- Standard MHFA– In-person, two-day workshop from 9:30am to 4:30pm
- This is usually delivered across consecutive weeks (i.e. on two consecutive Wednesdays) and is scheduled in conjunction with the broader university calendar. .
- Youth MHFA - In person, two day workshop from 9am-4:30pm
- This is so you can support people aged 12-18 years old. It's usually delivered across consecutive weeks (i.e. on two consecutive Wednesdays) and is scheduled in conjunction with the broader university calendar. .
How much does MHFA cost?
ʹڲƱ heavily subsidises the cost of MHFA training for students. The current cost for a ʹڲƱ student is:
Where financial difficulties are a barrier to access MHFA, the HPU may be able to waive fees at their discretion. Please contact the Health Promotion Unit to discuss fee waivers.
How do l register?
Registration is only available for students. Multiple dates are available throughout the year, select one of the available events on Humanitix to book your spot.
Key contacts
All questions about MHFA training courses specific to ʹڲƱ, including customised MHFA offerings, accessibility requirements and reasonable adjustments, should be directed to the ʹڲƱ Health Promotion Unit via mhfa@unsw.edu.au.
Need more support? We’re here to help.
Whether you're feeling unwell, overwhelmed or unsure where to turn, support is always available at ʹڲƱ.
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If you or someone else are in immediate danger or need urgent medical or psychological help, please seek emergency support right away.
This includes contacting emergency services (000), attending your nearest hospital or using after-hours crisis lines.
If you require emergency support while you're on campus, access our 24/7 services below.