Mental Wellness For Teens

Course

Lesson Number

Lesson Title

Author

Psychology

62

Community Health and Prevention

Ilanna S. Mandel

The student comprehends concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention. (HE.A.1.4)

Development State

Date October 23, 2008

Understands the relationships among physical, mental, emotional, and social health throughout adulthood. Knows strategies for health enhancement and risk reduction.

The student knows healthenhancing behaviors and how to reduce health risks. (HE.B.1.4) Understands the impact of technology on personal, family, and community health.

The student analyzes the influence of culture, media, technology, and other factors on health. (HE.B.2.4)

1.

Prepare Phase

OPENING REMARKS: The information provided in previous lessons may make it sound like our mental health is something that is completely out of our control. Thankfully, that is not the case. There are many things that we as individuals can do for ourselves and there are steps we can take to help friends and others close to us. This is called mental health prevention. It’s important to know that some behaviors will risk our mental health while others will enhance it. Good mental health is important as it is a key to our physical health as well.

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Techniques such as yoga, exercise and relaxation (or down time) are essential to good mental health. The good news is that much of our mental health is in our own hands and today’s lesson will focus on what we can do and how to find community resources to support ourselves and others. Lesson Expectations Understands the relationships among physical, mental, emotional, and social health throughout adulthood. Knows strategies for health enhancement and risk reduction. Understands the impact of technology on personal, family, and community health. Key Terms Prevention: In medicine, prevention is any activity which reduces the burden of mortality or morbidity from disease. This takes place at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels. 1. Primary prevention avoids the development of a disease. Most population-based health promotion activities are primary preventive measures. 2. Secondary prevention activities are aimed at early disease detection, thereby increasing opportunities for interventions to prevent progression of the disease and emergence of symptoms. 3. Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already established disease by restoring function and reducing disease-related complications. Health promotion, as defined by the World Health Organization, is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health.[1]. In the USA, health promotion is much more narrowly conceived as "the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. Community health, a field within public health, is a discipline that concerns itself with the study and betterment of the health characteristics of biological communities. While the term community can be broadly defined, community health tends to focus on geographic areas rather than people with shared characteristics. 2. Deliv er & Pr actice P hase The first step in mental health prevention is leading an active, healthy life. This means staying away from smoking, drugs and alcohol. These three habits can lead to physical health problems such as cancer, substance abuse and addiction. They are the most important habits to avoid.

It is extremely important to be aware of the warning signs of the onset of depression and other mental health issues. This is why we have identified them in previous lessons. Suicide prevention is the third pillar of mental health. If you, or anyone you know has thoughts of suicide, it is important that you talk with someone immediately. However, there are situations that are out of your control – such as divorce and parental illness or death. These can cause tremendous stress and lead young people to engage in risky behaviors such as drinking or taking drugs. Now, let’s watch a few videos on mental wellness for teenagers: Overview: Defining Mental Wellness for Teenagers (1:50) http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/22525/chp913732_256k.asf In this first one what do you see as the connections between peer pressure and feeling good? What did the moderator say about balance that’s important to take note of? Self-Assessment Activity (1:35) As you watch this video, answer the questions below. http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/22525/chp913733_256k.asf 1. How many days are good days in an average week? 2. Where do you feel your greatest stress and anxiety? 3. Which word best describes ‘you’? 4. How do you feel when you have to make big decisions? 5. Which word best describes how you feel most of the time? Understanding Parent-Teen Conflict (1:48) http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/22525/chp913734_256k.asf 1. How does the doctor explain the dilemma for teenagers? 2. Why does the world of ‘adulthood’ look so appealing?

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Elements of Self-Esteem and Strategies for Improvement (3:05) http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/22525/chp913736_256k.asf 1. 2. 3. 4.

How does the doctor explain how we can life around for ourselves? How can poor self-esteem affect someone’s life? What did Felicia do to restore balance in her life? How can patience and compassion help us?

EXERCISE Think of your biggest problem and your biggest flaw – now imagine there’s a child with that problem and you’re wise and can help – how do you help without hurting them? Write a letter to yourself and provide compassionate advice. Staying in Touch with What's Good for You (1:50) 1. How do young people learn how to make good choices? 2. What advice does the doctor give on this issue? 3. How do you know when a problem is too big to handle alone?

4.What are the symptoms? List them in your notebook. Hierarchy of Help (1:35) http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/22525/chp913738_256k.asf

First level of help – adult in family Second – adult outside of family Third – peer group that is supervised by an adult Important to note: what works for someone else will not necessarily work for you! Remember: it’s important to set your own goals Now we move on to one of the most serious of issues – suicide prevention. Every year, thousands of teenagers commit suicide for a wide range of reasons. Some of them include undiagnosed mental illness, inability to cope with bullying and teasing, abuse at home or at school. Please watch this video and look for the reasons why you think young people would think of committing suicide. Suicide Prevention (3:13)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6LRvi0s2uU Now that you’ve seen this vide please do this exercise: EXERCISE Write your own SUICIDE PREVENTION VIDEO – Create the characters and the dialogue. If you want to have music overtop, write in the name of the song and musicians. Remember, this is to tell other young people your age that committing suicide is not the answer. But, also this video should address WHY young people consider suicide. It can be 2-3 minutes in length. (one page = one minute). FINDING COMMUNITY RESOURCES One of the most important facts to know is: help and support is always available. For anyone who copes with a mental illness or even mild depression, there is a great deal of support out there for you. The key is to build a strong support network. NOTE OF CAUTION: There is a great deal of information available on the Internet, but not all of it is reliable. It’s important to know the difference between reliable and unreliable information. So here are some guidelines: 1. Never diagnose yourself or anyone else – A diagnosis should only be made by a medical doctor or a qualified counseling professional 2. Never self-medicate! This can have disastrous consequences. If you take medication, make sure you always take it the way it has been described. If you don’t, then never buy off the counter aides or medications unless you’ve been directed to do so by a doctor 3. Be very careful about discussing your own or anyone else’s mental health issues with people you don’t know, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET. This can be dangerous as people can take advantage of you. Your mental health issues should be discussed only with appropriate people – your family, your doctor and your closest friends (but the last one should be at great discretion). The first place to start for support is the following list: 1. Family 2. Family Doctor 3. Guidance Counselor at School 4. Local Chapter of the Mental Health Association 5. National Institute for Mental Health

These five levels are the key to getting the support you need at any time. 3. S ummariz e Phase Students will have learned to: Understands the relationships among physical, mental, emotional, and social health throughout adulthood. Knows strategies for health enhancement and risk reduction. Understands the impact of technology on personal, family, and community health.

4. As sessmen t Phase Assignment In an earlier exercise you designed your own suicide prevention video. Now, you’re going to build on this by moving to the next level. You’re going to design a 10 minute presentation to accompany the video. The presentation should highlight BUT NOT REPEAT the points in the video. The presentation should also provide the following: 1. Statistics on teen suicide 2. Reasons why teenagers try to and succeed in committing suicide 3. How friends and family can recognize the signs of suicide ideation and help This can be written out as an oral presentation or as a PowerPoint presentation with at least 10 slides. Extra Assignment A friend comes to you and tells you that their parents are getting divorced. They’re very upset about it but don’t know what to do. Using the information used in this lesson, construct a dialogue between two friends where one tries to help the other. You can limit this to 2 pages. 5. Ad di tional R esou rces

National Suicide Prevention Line http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Mental Health America Resource Center http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net Additional Reading on Teenage Suicide Prevention http://www.teensuicide.us/articles3.html