Earlier this year, I thought I had capacity to take an additional course on Mental Health. It is a topic that I’m really interested in but I always feel a bit hesitant in conversations as I don’t have lived experience or knowledge.
The Scottish Government does a great job at putting on free offers for professional development and thus, I enrolled in training on the Awareness of Mental Health Problems.
I massively underestimated the course and the effort I had to put in. While I did quite a few self-paced online learning courses, none of them asked for proper written assessments at the end of each session that were actually marked by a teacher. And all my studying had been in German, so this was the first time I actually “sat exams” in English and wow, did I not appreciate how much time that takes. I actually went back to handwritten study notes and wrote more than during my actual studies (and yes, it made my wrist hurt as I’m not used to it any longer)!
The content however was really interesting. I got a better understanding of Mental Health issues (and now complain about so many things being inaccurate) and am better at knowing how to take care of my own Mental Health (most of the time at least). I also think that every person should receive a voucher for 3 therapy sessions for their 18th birthday as I think a low barrier to explore therapy (that is little waiting time, no complicated referrals etc) could help sooo many people.
Overall, I spend a bit more than 63 hours on learning and assessments and at times, yes that caused me stress ;-). But receiving the certificate is an achievement that I’m proud of.
While studying again was an interesting experience, I’m not sure it really is for me as I prefer practical applications (even if those often come with role playing exercises that are out of my comfort zone). But so often I wondered if I should go back to university for some additional degree and I now can say that the answer to that question is no.
Patricia Herterich 