CHAPTER 5 Your Mental and Emotional Health Bennett

Signs of Emotional/Mental Health Good attitude & Positive outlook on life Recognize your strengths & work to improve weaknesses Setting realistic goals for yourself Acting Responsibly Relax and have fun in groups and alone

Signs of Emotional/Mental Health Aware of feeling and expressing them in a healthy way Accept constructive feedback without anger/offense Accepting yourself and others Adapting to new situations Showing empathy

How you see yourself Healthy teens accept themselves as they are. This does not mean they are perfect. Your personality will change throughout your life and it is fine, you are a dynamic individual.

Self-Esteem A major part of self concept is self-esteem. When you value yourself you are more likely to take care of your body. Confidence can help you be more outgoing and therefore help you make friends. Family, friends, media and your own feelings influence your self-esteem.

How does media influence your ideas about yourself How does media influence your ideas about yourself? Who is your favorite musician? Movie Star? Writer? President? Where do you get your news information? Do you think these source impact your self concept?

Building Self-Esteem Realistic goals-small goals become avalanches Focus on strengths-if you’re good at it, be great Ask for help-even Michael Jordan had trainers Perfection is not you-be proud of every step Think positive-it helps with set backs and best of all it’ll make your enemies mad!

Resilience is Brilliance! This does not mean that you never have problems. It means you face them and seek positive solutions. It takes practice and must be worked on your entire life. Practicing now will prepare you for the bigger trials when they come your way.

Building Resilience Focus on strengths-tutor someone Connect with others-friends and family are sources of support during tough times. Positive Attitude-focus on what you want to happen not what you fear may happen. No One Here is Perfect-it’ll make you better.

Understanding Your Emotions During your teen years it is normal to experience changes in your emotions in relatively short periods of time, mood swings. Hormones, changes in relationships, or worries about future/past events. Emotions are not good or bad, how you cope with them is what matters.

Anger Management Go to the top of page 91 and discuss the 6 steps to anger management.

Expressing Emotions No emotion in and of itself is bad. They are all needed for us to experience life fully. Learning to manage your emotions is part of maturing and important for mental and emotional wellness. So what are some of these emotions...

ANXIETY We all feel uneasiness at different times, this is ANXIETY-a form of stress. Mild anxiety can be useful because it gives you extra energy. But too much can cause problems. It can lead to unnecessary problems with sleep and eating. Try: talking to someone, writing in a journal, but running away from the problem does not help.

Anger This feeling can be helpful in some cases (being attacked) but not when dealing with non-life threatening cases (you mom said no to your buying a lamborghini). To help you understand your anger you need to know why and where it is coming from. Coping includes exercising, writing in a journal, and relaxing to music or meditation.

Defense mechanisms Denial-refusal to accept a feeling you do not want Projection-pretend someone else is having the feelings Displacement-go after someone that isn’t the problem Sublimation-redirect in a positive way, to avoid feelings

Emotional needs we all feel... We all feel the need to love and be loved, belonging, and the need to make a difference in the world (the need to be valued and do something that matters to them). We try to meet our needs in many ways but not all are healthy.

Meeting needs The need for love (p. 93) a teen trying to meet the need for love may engage in a sexual relationship will put themselves at risk of pregnancy and disease. You can get love from friends, family and community to meet all the needs. Basing a relationship on physicality will result in a shallow experience and increased pressure.

Stress The body responds to real or imagined dangers and life events. Anything that causes stress to you is a stressor. Persistent stress can affect all 3 sides of the health triangle. Physical- headaches, back pain and upset stomach.

Fight or Flight This is the way in which the body responds to threats. 1. Brain detects stress 2. Brain tells the Adrenal gland to release adrenaline 3. Heart beats faster and blood vessels expand 4. Muscles tighten, ready for action 5. Lungs widen and breathing becomes deeper 6. Other body functions low to allow for max energy for the stress response

Coping with stress Time Management Relaxation Talking it out Keeping a positive outlook Physical Activity