Kick Off How does the way you express emotions reflect your mental health?

Chapter 3: Achieving Mental and Emotional Health

ACHIEVING MENTAL & EMOTIONAL HEALTH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJ3J1uJCbg&list=PLcuNv7m4JXsd9UjgXjKuCyHNWlCt5tMEX&index=3

Lesson 1: Developing Your Self-Esteem Mental & Emotional Health: The ability to accept yourself and others, express and manage emotions, and deal with the demands and challenges you meet in your life. The Importance of Mental & Emotional Health: Mentally healthy people are, in general, happy and enjoy their lives They are confident and comfortable spending time alone or with others They are flexible and can cope with a wide variety of feelings and situations

Characteristics of Good Mental/Emotional Health: Sense of Belonging - feeling close to family, friends, teachers, and others that provide support. Sense of Purpose - recognizing you have value. Positive Outlook - seeing the bright side of life. Self-sufficiency - having confidence to make responsible and safe decisions promotes self-assurance and a sense of independence. Healthy self-esteem - helps you accept and recover from difficulties and failures

Signs of Good Mental/Emotional Health Realistic about strengths and weaknesses. Responsible for personal behavior. Avoid risk behaviors. Open-minded and flexible. Fun-loving and relaxed. Respect needs and the needs of others. Respect peoples values. Develop positive relationships. Express emotions in positive ways. Put talents and abilities to good use. View change as a challenge.

Self-esteem: how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself Having good self-esteem will also affect your overall attitude and the health choices you make. Trying new challenges can raise your sense of competence: having enough skills to do something Benefits: helps you feel proud of yourself and your abilities, skills, and accomplishments.

Developing Self-Awareness Understanding you needs and meeting them in healthy ways will help you reach your highest potential Abraham Maslow created a theory that explains human development and motivation called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – a ranked list of those needs essential to human growth and development, presented in ascending order, starting with basic needs and building toward the need to reach your highest potential

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH04OsNuvcw&index=2&list=PLcuNv7m4JXsd9UjgXjKuCyHNWlCt5tMEX

Lesson 2: Developing Personal Identity & Character Personal Identity is your sense of yourself as a unique individual. Your personal identity describes who you are and is one of the most important tasks you will accomplish during your teen years.

Your Personal Identity How identity forms: Recognize your likes & dislikes Your talents and abilities Your values and beliefs Your goals Relationships and experiences with family and friends Role models: Someone whose success or behavior serves as an example for you One part of your identity is your personality – a complex set of characteristics that makes you unique.

Importance of Good Character Character plays a significant role in your decisions, actions, and behavior.

Traits of Good Character Trustworthiness Respect Resposibility Fairness Caring Citizenship

Working Toward a Healthy Identity Recognize your strengths and weaknesses Demonstrate positive values Develop a purpose in your life Form meaningful relationships (Constructive Criticism: non-hostile comments that point out problems and encourage improvement) Contributing to the community Avoid unhealthful risk behaviors

Lesson 3: Expressing Emotions in Healthful Ways Recognizing and acknowledging your emotions is a sign of good mental and emotional health. Emotions are signals that tell your mind and body how to react. ~ Sometimes referred to as feelings, they are our responses to certain thoughts and events. Hormones: chemicals produced by your glands that regulate the activities of different body cells. Can make you feel as your emotions are swinging from one extreme to another.

Expressing Emotions in Healthful Ways Recognizing and acknowledging your emotions is a sign of good mental and emotional health. In 2006, over 720,000 people ages 10-24 were treated in emergency rooms because of a violent act. 29% of teens reported feeling sad or hopeless that they stopped doing some usual activities.

Identifying Your Emotions Happiness Sadness Love Empathy Fear Guilt Anger

Managing Your Emotions Empathy: the ability to imagine and understand how someone else feels Strategies for dealing with emotions in a positive way, ask yourself: Why do I feel the way I do about this event? Will the situation matter tomorrow, next week, or next year or later in my life? Why should I wait before responding? What can I do to feel better? Who can I ask to help me deal with my negative feelings? Seek help if negative feelings don’t go away.

Responding to Difficult Emotions Some people choose to manage difficult emotions by avoiding situations that make the uncomfortable. Defense Mechanisms: mental processes that protect individuals from strong or stressful emotions and situations. ~ May be used unconsciously as a way to protect yourself from intense emotional pain.

Responding to Difficult Emotions Handling Fear: recognize fear and figure out what is causing it Dealing with Guilt: Look at circumstances realistically and honestly – some situations are out of your control. Managing Anger: Figure out what is causing anger. Calm down, deep breathing, or remove yourself from situation Do something to relax Channel your energy to a different direction Talk with someone you trust

Self-Esteem and Positive Outlook When you have a healthy identity, you will experience increase self-esteem and a higher level of mental/emotional health 

Demonstrating Character http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=jocw-oD2pgo