Mental & Emotional health

What is Mental-Emotional Health? Do you see yourself in a positive way? Are you able to handle challenges and setbacks well? Being able to say yes to these questions is one sign of mental and emotional health. On your note sheet: what are some examples of challenges/setbacks that teenagers might face on a daily basis? 1. What are some examples of some challenges and setbacks that teenagers might face on a daily basis?

What is Mental & emotional health? Mental and Emotional health helps you function effectively each day. Definition – 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 and Emotional health Why do you think it is important to have good mental and emotional health? Makes a person generally happy and able to enjoy life. More confident Comfortable with others Flexible and cope with a wide variety of feelings and situations Affect the other areas of health (physical health & family social health) With the people around you come up with 3 reasons you think that mental and emotional health is important? Write them on your handout.

Characteristics of Good Mental/emotional health How do you know if you have good mental and emotional health? What characteristics might someone who has good mental/emotional health possess? 1. List 5 characteristics with the people next to you.

Characteristics of Good Mental/emotional health People with good mental/emotional health demonstrate the following characteristics: Sense of belonging: Feeling close to family members, friends, teachers, and other provides you with support. Sense of purpose: Recognizing that you have value and importance as a person lets you set and reach goals. Positive outlook: Seeing the bright side of life reduces stress and increases your chances of success.

Characteristics of Good Mental/emotional health Self-sufficiency: Having the confidence to make responsible decisions promotes your sense of independence and self- assurance. Healthy self-esteem: Having healthy self-esteem helps you accept and recover from difficulties and failures.

Resiliency & Mental Health Everyone has to manage difficult and stressful situations. Mentally and emotionally healthy people handle stresses in positive ways. These people are resilient. Resiliency – the ability to adapt effectively and recover from disappointment, difficult, or crisis. 1. What are some examples of situations that a teenager may need to recover from?

Self-esteem Developing self-esteem influences the other characteristics of good mental health. Self-esteem – how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself. Self-esteem affects your overall attitude and the health choices you make. 1. In other words, it means that self-esteem is the base of having good mental emotional health

How You develop self-esteem What kind of things or situations increase your self-esteem? Increases when you are praised for your efforts or a job well done. Increases when you believe that you can succeed, or when you master new challenges. No one succeeds at new tasks and activities all the time. Why might someone not succeed at something the first time? Use positive self-talk What are some examples of negative self-talk? How can you change those around to positive self-talk? How did you prepare for the activity or task? Was it realistic to expect to succeed on your first try? Everyone has unique abilities, you may have to work harder at something if you do not have the unique abilities to master that task or activity easily. Positive self-talk – encouragement that you give yourself. Try to replace negative self-talk with positive.

Benefits of healthy self-esteem Helps you feel proud of yourself and your abilities, skills, and accomplishments. You feel that setbacks are temporary. You have the confidence to attack challenges and overcome them. Gives you the confidence to try new things regardless of outcome. Don’t see self as a failure if they do not succeed at something.

Improving Your Self-Esteem You can control many things that affect your self-esteem. Avoid criticizing yourself, or spending time with people who criticize you. Set realistic expectations, and don’t expect everything to be perfect. Choose friends who value and respect you. Focus on positive aspects about yourself. Replace negative self-talk with positive. Work toward accomplishments rather than perfection.

Improving self-esteem cont. Consider your mistakes learning opportunities. Try new activities to discover you talents. Write down your goals and the steps you will take to achieve them. Exercise regularly to feel more energized. Volunteer your time to help someone. Accept the things you can’t change, and focus your energy on changing the things you can.

Developing Self-Awareness American psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory that explains human development and motivation. 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 towards the need for your highest potential. Abraham Maslow: born 1908 (Brooklyn), died 1970 (California).

Hierarchy of Needs Level 4: Feeling Recognized Level 3: Belonging Self-actualization Level 4: Feeling Recognized Level 3: Belonging Level 2: Safety Level 1: Physical Needs

Physical Needs – Level 1 Need to satisfy life’s basic needs of hunger, thirst, sleep, and shelter. Once these needs are met then we become interested in meeting the needs in the next level.

Safety Needs The need to be secure from danger. Safety needs include: Protection Security Order Law Limits Stability

Belonging – Level 3 Once your basic and safety needs are met then you become interested in meeting the need to belong and be loved. This includes having or being a part of: Family Affection Relationships Work groups

Esteem Needs or Feeling Recognized – Level 4 The need to achieve, and/or need to be recognized. Achievement Status Responsibility reputation

Self-Actualization – Level 5 Self Actualization – to strive to be the best you can. Personal growth Fulfillment Reaching your potential is something that is ongoing and can take a lifetime to accomplish.

WAKE UP

Meeting your needs in a healthy way. Need to understand how to meet needs in a healthy way and avoid meeting needs using high risk behaviors. For example: joining a gang to meet belonging needs. How do you meet your needs in each of the levels. What level are you focused most on right now? Why do you think understanding your needs affects your self-esteem?