Respect for autonomy means respect for the freedom and dignity of each person. All individuals should be free to make choices for themselves. A person should have the power to decide what information about them to share (Welfare, 2015).
First aiders for mental health are required to respect the confidentiality and privacy of any conversation with a co-worker. While it is necessary to keep confidentiality, there may be situations that you might need the assistance of others and have to share your concerns with your team or your manager. This choice will be made without malice or personal gain, and in the best interest of the co-worker and not the organization.
If there is a concern for the safety of the person or others you can bridge the principle of confidentiality and report it. In particular, is necessary to assess the risk of self-harm and suicide, or the risk of harm to others. In an early stage of conversation you need to be clear with the limits of confidentiality and be sure that the co-worker agrees with this. Moreover, you should not choose to approach this person if you believe that a conversation with this co-worker may directly put you at a risk or you afraid that will lose your job or harm your reputation Sometimes people can worry about how to approach a conversation about a person’s mental health but there are no special skills needed, use common sense, empathy, be approachable and be a good listener. If you do nothing, problems can spiral, with a negative impact for individuals and organizations.