At university, training to learn how to help students in distress

In the Gustave-Roussy amphitheater, on the Cordeliers de la Sorbonne campus in Paris, students draw the face of a person suffering from anxiety. Pearls of sweat, pronounced dark circles, apocalyptic clouds above the forehead, a tangle of threatening and colored spirals… They are not lacking in inspiration. This group begins its second day of training in first aid in mental health (PSSM): the day before, the sixteen volunteers – girls and boys – have already explored mental disorders, suicidal crises and other symptoms of depression.

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At the end of the fourteen hours of training, all will become “Mental health rescuers”. Because if some are initiated to the gestures that save in the event of cardiac arrest or suffocation, what to do in the event of a panic attack or aggressive driving related to taking substances? “It is not a question of substituting for care, but rather of realizing changes in behavior in those around them, details the trainer Maxime Lacoche, coordinator of preventive actions at the University Service of Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion (SUMPPS) of Sorbonne University. Students practice spotting signs to provide first aid. “

“I change my look”

Far from finding the meeting plumb, Amine Benslimane, 23, sees it rather “A great breath of fresh air”. Originally from Béjaïa, Algeria, the student set down in France in September to take a master’s degree in computer science and, since then, he has been circling around in his residence in Cergy (Val-d’Oise), bordering on overdose. video lessons. “I really enjoyed leaving my house, and it motivates all the more to see people in real life! “, he blurted out, admitting a few drops in morale, alone for months in his studio. “We still hold on”, repeats the young man, marked in particular by the suicide of one of his friends, an Algerian student like him, in La Rochelle at the end of August 2020. “We didn’t see anything, we didn’t expect it. This story may have played a role in my choice to register for this training. I would have liked to have been made aware of this kind of stuff earlier. “

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Embellished with videos, role-playing games, works of art and other team challenges, the training alternates between scenarios and theoretical contributions. Modeled on a standardized Australian program, the PSSM France association was created in 2018, accrediting its first trainers in 2019. Even if the content is intended to be universal – and therefore not specifically adapted to the student population – four university health services have were first selected to experiment with the device. In addition to the Sorbonne, the universities of Lorraine, Bordeaux and Clermont-Auvergne have set foot in the stirrup, with the support of their regional health agencies.

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