BARBARA

SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
BARBARA SCENARIO 1
Barbara’s Story

Barbara has been a neighbor of yours for many years. You remember her
children when they were small and noted recently that they do not visit as often
as they use to. Barbara is recently retired. She was a waitress for many years at the
local diner, and was liked by many people. Since retiring, she has disclosed to you
that she now must budget more than she used to, relying solely on her fixed income
of social security, alimony and whatever personal savings she had. You notice that
Barbara doesn’t garden as often as she used to, and lately you haven’t seen her
outside much. Wanting to make sure she is OK, you stop by for a visit. Barbara
seems to have lost weight, and tells you how she doesn’t sleep as well because of
back pain. She appears sullen, lonely, and restless.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

BARBARA SCENARIO 2
Barbara’s Story

Barbara hasn’t been out of the house for days, and you note that she has not
walked her 2 dogs. You have one of her adult children’s phone number, so you
reach out. Her son says that he talked to her yesterday but only for a few minutes.
You call Barbara and surprisingly, she answers. She tells you that she struggles to
leave the house and feels lonely. You tell her that you’d like to check on her every
day for awhile, that there are people who care, and you are one of them. She
declines, and says she prefers to be alone, and finds herself irritable when she is
around a lot of people.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

BARBARA SCENARIO 3
Barbara’s Story

The next day, worried, you stop by, but no one answers the door. You hear
noises and know that she is home. You go around back and can get through
her patio door, and you hear her dogs barking incessantly. You call her but no
answer. You walked upstairs to see Barbara in bed, crying. Near her is a bottle of
prescription painkillers and she appears to be ‘out of it’ and keeps telling you she
just ‘couldn’t do it anymore.’

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

FRANK
SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
FRANK SCENARIO 1
Frank’s Story

Your older brother Frank lives in the nearby town. You, Frank, and your other
brother have always been close. Recently, you’ve been spending more time
together since Frank got divorced. The divorce was hard on him, and he briefly
struggled with some substance use. However, he has been in recovery. He has also
struggled financially, but the past few years has been able to maintain his job as a
custodian at the local middle school. He enjoys it, and seeing the happy children
always brightens his day. In late August, as he preparing to go back to work, he
gets a call from his boss that he has been laid off. He can’t believe it. His boss tells
him there has been budgets cuts, and they are consolidating his position. He is
distraught. He doesn’t get out of bed for days. You and your brother come over to
try and cheer him up, but it doesn’t seem to help.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

FRANK SCENARIO 2
Frank’s Story

You stop by again a few days later to see how he is feeling. Frank has cleaned
out his entire apartment, reorganized his things and is constantly cleaning. You
also notice that he has all new furniture and seems to be wearing all new clothes.
You and your brothers are worried and ask, “Where did you get the money to buy
all these things?” Frank tells you that he used his credit card and not to worry. Later
that week, Frank tells you that he wants to take you all out. At dinner, he is speaking
fast, but keeps reassuring you that he is totally fine, and laughs off your concerns. At
dinner, he orders several rounds of drinks, despite being sober for several years now.
You also notice that he is sweating, talking loudly, and seems jittery.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

FRANK SCENARIO 3
Frank’s Story

One night after dinner with you and your brothers, Frank is heavily intoxicated,
and decides he’d like to go gambling at the local casino. He doesn’t seem to have
the money, but he overdrafts his accounts to have some cash to play with. He loses
it immediately, and this sends him into a panic. There is a guy at the table next to
him, and he can hear him laughing with friends about Frank. This angers Frank
and he begins to yell at the man. The other man’s friends step in, and a large multi
person argument ensues, and security is called in to break up the argument.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

GLORIA
SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
GLORIA SCENARIO 1
Gloria’s Story

Gloria and you have lived in this town for almost 15 years. As a professor in the
math department, you and Gloria raised 3 children here and enjoy being a part of
this quiet community. She has some family who also live nearby but she shared with
you that chooses not to see them as often, as she does not have fond memories of
them from her childhood. Some days, Gloria seems sad and distant but she appears
to be able to function and go to work. When you ask her about how she is feeling,
she says, “everyone gets sad sometimes.” The past few weeks have been demanding
at work, and the department chair has been especially difficult on Gloria. However, it
doesn’t come easy to Gloria to open up, so she has not shared much about it when
you ask her.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

GLORIA SCENARIO 2
Gloria’s Story

You notice that Gloria has been even more distant lately. She has called into
work more many days this semester, and keeps saying how she is tired. She often
skips dinner, saying her stomach hurts, and heads to bed early. She has lost weight,
and is oftentimes up at night, despite falling asleep quickly when she goes to bed.
If she does go to work, she comes home and says that she has been struggling to
get through the day. You have invited the grandchildren over, but she asks you not
to invite them over right now because she doesn’t want her negative energy around
them. Gloria opened up a little more about her interactions with her department
chair, stating that the department chair is frustrated because Gloria is not hitting her
deadlines. Most of the weekends, Gloria is sleeping, struggling to do any household
chores or pay the bills. You are worried about her, but don’t know what to do.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

GLORIA SCENARIO 3
Gloria’s Story

One morning, Gloria says that she is not planning on going to campus today.
You leave for the day to give her some time alone. Midday, you decide to go home
for lunch with food from Gloria’s favorite cafe in town. When you arrive at home,
you find Gloria writing a letter, explaining how hopeless she feels. As you read the
letter, you feel terrified and try to listen as she explains how she is feeling. You are
not sure what to do.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

STEVEN
SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
STEVEN SCENARIO 1
Steven’s Story

Steven is a new coworker at your organization, recently moving to Washington

DC from Colorado for this new job with his wife and young daughter. You can tell
that the transition hasn’t been easy for him. He discloses to you that he often feels
inadequate at work, as many people expect to him know certain higher-ups in the
art world. He shares that people in Colorado were warmer, friendlier, and there was a
different sense of community. He used to go on hikes to relax and destress, but it is
hard here with his longer hours, and commute home. Overall, he feels like he has less
time for himself, and less time for his family. When he is alone, he wonders if maybe
he made the wrong choice, and he uprooted his entire family only to fail in a new
city. He discloses that even when he is not working, he is unable to relax.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

STEVEN SCENARIO 2
Steven’s Story

After the meeting this week, Steven shares that the commute is really draining
him. He shares that he feel stressed driving and becomes sweaty when he sits in
traffic on his way home from work. He notes that there seem to be many angry
drivers on the road, and he worries for his safety. He points out that he is not an
aggressive driver and driving in the city makes him nervous. He discloses to you that
he is taking a longer route to work to avoid traffic, even though this further cuts into
his time with his family, as well as his self- care. However, he says that taking this
route is worth it because it allows him to not be stressed driving to and from work.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

STEVEN SCENARIO 3
Steven’s Story

At work today, Steven made some errors on a recent project where his boss
provided him feedback in front of the entire firm. Afterwards, he shares with
you that he truly believes that moving here was a mistake. As the both of you
are leaving work at the end of the day, your ride home informs texts to say that
they are running really late. You ask Steven for a ride home since you both live
fairly close to each other and he obliges. On the way home, Steven realizes there
is construction on his normal route home, and he is forced to take the highway.
You can tell that this change in route is making Steven nervous and once on the
highway, Steven starts sweating and has difficulty breathing. He is breathing
quickly and says that he feels like he is having a heart attack.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

VALERIE
SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
VALERIE SCENARIO 1
Valerie’s Story

You have been living with your roommate Valerie for more than a year.
Valerie, Dave (your other roommate), and you all live in a spacious apartment
and get along well. You didn’t know Valerie from before but met her though Dave and
agreed on her moving in when your old roommate moved out. Valerie is a talented
Graphic Designer and works for a marketing company in the city. You all share a
refrigerator and pantry, so although you don’t always eat together, you are pretty aware
of who is eating what and when. You noticed fairly soon into Valerie moving in that she
appears focused on her weight. Valerie also has some odd behaviors around food. She
always reads the ingredients very carefully and when she makes dinner, things have to
be arranged just so. She usually laughs it off as “part of her quirky personality”. One
night, you come home late and she is crying on the couch. You sit down and talk with
her and she shares a story about her older brother who was killed in Iraq when she was
6. They were very close and sometimes she has nightmares about it.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

VALERIE SCENARIO 2
Valerie’s Story

Valerie has been working really hard on a big project and you don’t see her
much for a few weeks as your schedules rarely cross. You bump into her in the
kitchen one morning and are surprised at how different she looks. She appears to
have lost weight and has bags under her eyes. You ask her about how she is doing
and says that she is just stressed at work. You have also noticed that she is not
keeping much food at all in the house - just fizzy water, some rice crackers and the
occasional piece of fruit. You assume she is eating at the office but you are worried.
She does admit that the nightmares have been getting worse and she hasn’t had a
good night’s sleep in months.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

VALERIE SCENARIO 3
Valerie’s Story

One morning you hear Valerie’s alarm going on and on. She doesn’t shut it
off. You are annoyed and knock on her bedroom door, but there is no answer.
You go in and see Valerie slumped in the chair by her bed, slipping in and out of
consciousness. She is extremely cold to the touch and her skin is ashy. You try and
wake her up but she is not waking up. You try and get a pulse but it is weak and slow.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA

VIVIAN
SCENARIO CARDS
©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA
VIVIAN SCENARIO FOR
TRAUMA SECTION

Vivian’s Story

It is the second week of the semester and the volume of students coming
into the library has been steadily increasing and lots of students are accessing
the library for the first time. It is generally very busy (as It always is at this time of
year). Vivian, a new staff member (employed on a 6 month fixed term contract) is 20
minutes late to work and arrives looking pale. You are busy helping a student, and there
is no opportunity for the usual morning greeting. The supervisor of the section is at
a meeting. Vivian sets about to work shelving books nearby. You notice that Vivian is
having trouble sticking to the task, at times she walks up and down the same row of
shelves to find the correct location for a book. See also seems to be tense and nervous.
You finally get the chance to ask about her weekend. Vivian replies that she had been
involved in a car accident on Friday night when driving home from a party. The driver of
the other vehicle swerved into her car, rolled his car and was killed. Vivian says that she
has not been sleeping and can’t stop thinking about the accident.

©2020 Mental Health First Aid USA