Relationship Choices Develop effective interpersonal skills that demonstrate responsibility, respect and caring in order to establish and maintain healthy interactions.

What is depression?  What does depression look like? Sound like? Feel like?  Let’s brainstorm a list

Depression  Mental illness is a disease that is characterized by a chemical imbalance in the brain. When mental illness strikes it can make it difficult for the sufferer to cope with everyday life. The good news is that there are treatments available to help you feel better.  The most common mental illness is anxiety disorder, but others are depression, (bipolar mood disorder), schizophrenia, and eating disorders.  Generally feeling sad all the time, don’t enjoy the things you used to, don’t want to do anything

 Having a mental illness doesn’t mean that you are “crazy” or “nuts”, nor does it mean that you cannot work or have friends. Some of the other myths associated with mental illness are:  They are responsible for their own condition, and it is their fault  They are violent and uncontrollable  They have nothing positive to contribute, and what they say and do is not worthy  The first symptoms of mental illness often appear in adolescence, so it’s important for you to be aware of the symptoms.

Mental Health  Having access to reliable information on mental health and mental illness is crucial for adolescents for a number of reasons. Mental and emotional problems need to be addressed, just like student’s physical health problems.

Stats  Even if students have not experienced mental illness, it is very likely that they will know someone who has. Mental health problems affect one in five young people at any given time.  Mental illness is second only to heart disease as the leading cause of disability in Canada and worldwide.  The first symptoms of mental illness generally appear between the ages of 15–24.  An estimated 50% of young people with mental illness are not getting help.  Fear of stigma and the resulting discrimination discourages individuals and families from getting the help they need.

Mental Health Disorders  There are many different kinds of mental health disorders, including:  Anxiety disorders  ADHD  Bipolar disorder  Eating disorders  Schizophrenia 

Jigsaw  In groups, you will each be responsible for learning about one of the previous mental health disorders  Anxiety  ADHD  Bipolar Mood Disorder  Depression  Eating Disorders  Schizophrenia

Websites    heets  (eating disorder)  (ADHD)

What causes mental illness?  Researchers are still working to understand the cause of different mental illnesses. While each mental illness is different, in general, they are believed to have a number of contributing factors including:  Biological factors: this is the effect of genetics on brain development and brain function.  Current social and environmental circumstances: for example, relationships, school, family stress, or stressful life events.  Individual factors: for example self-esteem or way of thinking about self and others.  Negative early life experiences: for example a traumatic experience, abuse, neglect, death of a family member or close friend.

Today we will…  Evaluate the relationship between risk management and stress management; e.g., managing risks effectively reduces stress, managing stress can reduce impulsive behaviours.

Stress  What is stress?

Stress  Stress is the body’s response to anything that makes us feel threatened or pressured. It is caused by any kind of demand to which we must adapt, adjust, or respond. It is the body’s automatic way of reacting to changes, challenges, and demands placed on us.  Based on this definition, has anyone experienced stress?

What causes stress?  There are lots of things that can cause stress in our lives, and two major ones are change and loss.  For you as students, school stress can also occur  Our reactions to these things can change from person to person, and can vary for many reasons.  Finding ways to cope and adjust to change and loss is very important

Other causes of stress  academic work, extra-curricular activities, family, friends and work.  It is important to learn to manage these stressors and expectations so you don’t become overwhelmed

Let’s break things down…  Breaking things down into manageable steps is an important skill to learn.  It can help not only in school situations, but also in your day-to-day life

Suicide  What do you know about suicide?

 Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people ages At least 90% of those who die by suicide have a mental illness. If a friend mentions thoughts of suicide or self-harm, you NEED to tell an adult. This may be a parent, teacher or a guidance counselor. It’s better to have a friend who is angry with you than to keep their secret and live with knowing you could have helped, but remained silent when your friend was in trouble.

Influencing Factors In order to develop suicide prevention approaches, we need to consider what we know about factors that influence suicidal behaviour. The suicide prevention literature typically describes four types of factors to consider:  Predisposing factors set the stage for a vulnerability to suicide and are typically historical in nature (e.g., family history of suicide).  Contributing factors act to increase the exposure of individuals to other predisposing or precipitating conditions (e.g., substance abuse within the family). These may be historical or sudden in nature.  Precipitating factors act as a trigger for predisposed persons and are often acute or sudden in nature (e.g., sudden loss or failure). .

Influencing Factors  Protective factors describe those conditions which act to lessen the risk for suicide (e.g., availability of at least one significant adult who can provide warmth, care and understanding).  The risk for suicide is increased by predisposing, contributing and precipitating factors.  The protective factors serve to decrease the risk for suicide

Scenario  “Your friend isn’t acting like his old self. He seems really down, and has been doing strange things like giving his favorite things away. He recently told you that he thought the people he knew would be better off without him around and that he’s thought of killing himself. After he tells you, he asks you not to tell anyone else about what he has said.”

Let’s think…  Do you think he has a mental health problem?  Is he in trouble?  What should you do?

 feel sad, depressed or down most of the time  unable to enjoy the things that once gave you pleasure  feel tired and/or lack energy most of the time  have trouble sleeping or do you sleep too much  find it difficult to concentrate or make decisions  had an increase or decrease in appetite or weight  had feelings of worthlessness or guilt  felt frightened or panicky for no apparent reason at all  felt restless and found it difficult to sit still  been feeling anxious or worried  felt like you just cannot go on, or had thoughts of death or dying?

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 If you or someone you know is struggling, PLEASE get help. Talk to someone, take that step! Don’t struggle alone, you are not alone. You have people who love and care about you, no matter what you may think.  You are valuable!

Journal Time!  Why is it important to talk about mental health? What are some things you can do to help make sure you stay healthy? (ex. Ways to prevent/manage stress)  If you have ever felt stress before, what have you done to manage it? If not, have you learned anything you think will help you in the future?