Miss Deborah Reveley¹

¹Brain Ambulance Pty Ltd, Mandurah, Australia

Abstract:

Imagine if there was a toolkit that anyone could access (including those with low literacy) which would provide simple information and instructions for mental health problems. If you ever searched the internet in the past for such a physical resource, you would have found nothing.  Now there is such a toolbox.

I wish to present the Mental Health Response Box which I have written and produced for all workplaces as a toolbox for mental health issues.  This evidenced informed resource can stand alone( needs no prior training) and delivers  simple instructions and concepts in individual folders on the complex scenarios or

– Signals (signs that there might be a problem)

– Wanting to help yourself

– Helping others – being invited to help or wanting to offer to help

– Crisis (including information for suicidal thought)

– Next steps (moving on from being unwell)

The toolbox has tear off sheets to take information away and a space for Employee  Assistance Program  information if you have one.

This toolkit needs to  be introduced to your staff like it was a new piece of life saving equipment.  We may never know exactly how many frightened, worried, curious, sad, anxious or desperate eyes view the pages of how many mates have been helped.  We might not know how many boss’s have felt more comfortable having a tricky conversation or how many lives it has saved or helped.  We will only know that just like a first aid kit, it was there when needed.

Biography:

Deb Reveley is the CEO of Brain Ambulance, which she started 14 years ago to deliver mental health education from the perspective of the lived experience.  an ex-teacher, she has lived with mental health problems for 25+ years spending substantial time housebound with agoraphobia.  Deb was the inaugural recipient of the Mental Health First Aid Master Instructor Award.    She uses her life experience to deliver knowledge, skills and understanding of mental health to all types of workforce.  She describes herself as an empathy educator.

Deb is a huge advocate for the recovery model.  When she was unwell, she always wanted to meet someone who had sustained recovery and had made a success of their life through their experience.  She couldn’t find anyone so decided to become the person herself.  She has an excellent capacity to be able to help others understand the complexities and issues of mental illness.  Her insight allows for authentic presentation and discussion with broad audiences.

She now works mainly as a keynote speaker and workshop presenter.

Deb searched for many years to find a physical toolbox on mental health which could be left in a workplace to stand alone without training.  Again she couldn’t find what she was looking for so in 2016, she wrote, designed and produced the Mental Health Response Box.  Now in hundreds of workplaces, this resource allows people to help themselves, help others and cope in a crisis.  Deb now spends time following her dream to see one of these Mental Health Response Boxes in every workplace in Australia right next to the defib machine or the first aid box.

As a  great problem solver and innovative thinker, Deb is often described as a human toolbox.  She hopes to visit your workplace with her real toolbox – the Mental Health Response Box.