IF SOMEONE falls and hurts themselves or is bitten by a snake, chances are most people will be able to administer some sort of basic first aid to help them.

But what happens if someone is suicidal, depressed, anxious or suffering from shock?

Mental health first-aid training has long been bridging the gap in educating the community on how to approach mental illness.

This week 22 people from all walks of life came together to participate in the interactive mental health first-aid training at Cafe Jacqui's, facilitated by Partners in Recovery.

Heading the first-aid training was Mark Goddard from Partners in Recovery, who said the course wasn't about teaching people how to be counsellors.

"It's about improving mental health literacy in the community - what is mental health and de-stigmatising myths about mental illness," he said.

"The course really gives people a framework around providing support - it works on the same principles as physical first aid."

One of the benefits of the course was its ability to bring first hand experience to the participants, rather than just theory and statistical based knowledge.

According to speaker Brian Reilly, mental health first-aid training could very well save lives.

The Toowoomba man brought his first-hand experiences of bi-polar, anxiety and post-traumatic stress to the course participants.

"I tell people how it is when you're living it - I'm living what we're talking about," he said.

"The course has the power to save lives - it might stop a suicide and hopefully it does."

Among the participants was Leanne Smith from Blackbutt, who works at a small school.

Mrs Smith said a move by the education department to start looking more at mental health spurred her to travel to Warwick for the course.

"I thought it would be good to see what insight I could get," she said.

"The course is really good - I've found it very informative.

"You can see how the things which may appear simple to us, may appear worse to those going through things."

Giulia Bonfanti from the Warwick Collective said she also found the course valuable.

"The good thing is the person running the course had real life experience," she said. "It's not just theory based."

Funding for this week's course was provided by Ag Assist, Uniting Care and Partners in Recovery.

Mental health first aid

•  Training courses are accredited
•  Provides a framework around support
•  Scenarios reflect real-life situations
•  Course facilitators say it's life-saving
•  Works on the same principles as physical first aid
•  Uses the acronym ALGEE - Approach and Assist, Listen non-judgementally, Give support, Encourage professional support and Encourage our support
•  Mental health issues include anxiety, depression, psychosis and drug and alcohol