1. Freshman Health/PE Chapter Three
Achieving Mental & Emotional Health

2. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Mental/Emotional Health  ability to accept yourself/others, express/manage emotions, and deal with the demands and challenges you meet in your life
Mentally healthy/stable individuals are typically happy and enjoy their lives
Are flexible and can deal with a variety of situations

3. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Characteristics of good mental health
Sense of belonging
Sense of purpose
Positive outlook
Self-sufficiency
Healthy self-esteem
*Resilient  the ability to adapt effectively and recover from difficulty, disappointment, and/or crisis

4. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Self-esteem  how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself
Healthy self-esteem helps you feel proud of yourself, your abilities/skills, and accomplishments
Gives you confidence to try new things

5. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Competence  having skills to do something (proficient to perform activity)
Increases through trying new things
Self-talk  encouragement or criticism that you give yourself

6. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Ways to improve your self-esteem…
Choosing friends who value/respect you
Focusing on positive aspects about yourself
Exercise regularly to feel more energized
Accept the things you cannot change and focus your energies on those things you can

7. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs  ranked list of those needs essential to human growth and development
Starts with basic needs and builds towards those needed to reach your highest potential

8. Developing Your Self-Esteem
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Level 1 (physical)
Satisfying basic needs (food/water/shelter/etc.)
Level 2 (safety)
Secure from danger
Level 3 (belonging)
Need to love, be loved, and to belong
Level 4 (need to be valued/recognized)
Ex. For any accomplishments you may have
Level 5 (self-actualization)
Strive to be the very best you can be

9. Developing Personal Identity & Character
Personal identity  sense of yourself as a unique individual
Formed by recognizing likes/dislikes as well as relationships/experiences with family/friends
Role models  people whose success or behavior serve as an example for you
Personality  the complex set of characteristics that make you unique

10. Developing Personal Identity & Character
Character  distinctive qualities that describe how a person thinks/feels/behaves
Good character is an outward expression of inner values and is vital to a healthy identity
Six common traits of good character
Trustworthiness  honest/loyal/reliable
Respect  considerate of others/differences
Responsibility  self-control and thinking before you act
Fairness  playing by rules, open-minded, listening to others, etc.
Caring  kind/compassionate
Citizenship  advocating healthy environments…giving back
*Integrity  firm observance of core ethical values

11. Developing Personal Identity & Character
You control who you become
While you can’t control everything, you are ultimately responsible for your actions
Analyze your strengths/weaknesses
Demonstrate positive values (even if it’s not the “popular” decision)
Form meaningful relationships with others
Avoid high-risk behaviors
Contribute to your community

12. Expressing Emotions in Healthy Ways
Emotions  signals that tell your mind and body how to react
How you respond to your emotions can affect your health triangle…Example?
Common emotions include…
Happiness  being satisfied and feeling positive
Sadness
Love  strong affection, deep concern, and respect
Fear
Guilt  shame/regret that occurs when you act against your values
Anger
Hostility  intentional use of unfriendly/offensive behavior

13. Expressing Emotions in Healthy Ways
Knowing how to recognize your emotions can help you manage them in healthy ways
Empathy  ability to imagine/understand how someone else is feeling
Some techniques to reduce the intensity of your emotions include…
Deep breathing and relaxing muscles
Getting away from the situation until you calm down
Talking to someone you trust about the situation

14. Expressing Emotions in Healthy Ways
Defense mechanisms  mental processes that protect individuals from strong and stressful emotions/situations
Repression  involuntarily pushing unpleasant feelings out of one’s mind
Regression  returning to behaviors characteristic of a younger age (vs. dealing with them in mature manner)
Denial  unconscious lack of recognition of something that is obvious to others
Projection  attributing your own feelings or faults to another person or group
Suppression  consciously/intentionally pushing unpleasant feelings out of one’s mind
*Rationalization  making excuses to explain a situation/behavior rather than taking responsibility
Compensation  making up for weaknesses/mistakes through gifts, hard work, or extreme efforts