PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Responding to and understanding signs of mental illness and substance use disorders is not easy. 

Mental Health First Aid is a nationwide course that teaches skills to those looking to help those in need. 

Instructor Rev. Dr. Christian Frazier said the program has trained four million people nationwide in Mental Health First Aid. 

“We want to train one in 15 people in the United States because we know the efficacy of the program and it helps prevent suicide and also get people the aid that they need when they’re experiencing emotional trauma,” he said. 

Now he’s bringing the workshop to St. Petersburg College. 

Student Cyleena Martin attended Wednesday’s introduction to the class. 

“Mental health is getting worse and worse, so I think it’s very necessary that we are getting all these mental health needs and having everybody be open to learning about it so we can not just depend on a few specific people,” she said. 

This program was planned before the shooting at Florida State’s Campus.

In its aftermath, Frazier said the program becomes more relevant. 

“Those types of events raise anxiety and if we don’t address it, we can lose lives,” he said.  

From talking about how to help someone in need to going over meditation techniques, Frazier covered a lot. 

Martin thinks the class can help her take care of others more effectively. 

“I can probably go beyond, like, past seeing if my friends need help,” she said. “I like helping people and I just hear a lot of things, so I want to be able to have the resources.”