1. Living with Mental Illness
Shane Adams & Nawal Muradwij

2. Learning Objective After this mini lesson, students will be able to:
Critically evaluate and discuss the impact of psychological diagnoses on the experience of individuals with mental illness

3. Lesson Plan
Split into groups of 3 or 4. Imagine you have been diagnosed with…
Schizophrenia, Obsessive-Compulsive Dx, Bipolar I, Borderline Personality Dx, PTSD
T(W)PS: Worksheet
What might be some of the experiences you imagine lead to your assigned diagnosis?
How might this diagnosis affect your life?
Role Play:
One volunteer from each group will introduce their diagnosis and briefly describe how they believe this diagnosis reflects their experience, and how it has impacted their life.

4. Example: Major Depression
“I was diagnosed with major depression. I sometimes have pretty long periods where I feel really down and exhausted all the time. It feels like I’m walking in a cloud, and all I really want to do is sleep. I stop going out with my friends. I stop eating well. I really feel hopeless most of the time.
When I was assigned the diagnosis, I felt relieved at first that it wasn’t just me. I could point to thoughts I was having, and say “this is my depression”. But I realized other people don’t see it that way. Some people tell me I should just go on walks or go out more, which makes me feel like I’m pretending or my diagnosis doesn’t really exist.”

5. Advocacy