1. MENTAL HEALTH What indicates a person’s health and wellbeing?
Write down a list of words that you believe describe a healthy individual…
Split this list into Mental Health, Physical Health and Social Health.

2. Mental Health Enjoys life/sense of fun
Positively looking forward to the future
Optimistic-”I can”
Sense of achievement
Happy/Confident
Able to deal with issues/problems that arise
Can take a risk and deal with success and failure
Ability to laugh at self

3. Physical Health Feeling fit Energetic Free from pain and disease
Enough to eat
Good sleep

4. Social Health Good relationships with family and friends Feels valued
Feels able to make an impact on the world
Feels able to be creative and expressive
Able to learn, work and succeed in life.

5. Mental Health
What is the definition of a mentally healthy young person?.....

6. Mental Health
A mentally health young person is one who may have the ability to;
Play and learn
Develop a sense of right and wrong
Resolve (face) problems (challenges) and setbacks satisfactorily and learn from them
Use and enjoy solitude
Become aware of others and empathise with them
Initiate, develop and sustain mutually satisfying relationships
Develop psychologically, emotionally, socially and intellectually.

7. Positive affects on Mental Health
Make a list of things that affect my mental health positively (make me happier)…..

8. Positive affects on Mental Health
Feeling healthy
Having close friends
Doing well at school
Thinking positive thoughts and having belief that you can achieve
Taking ownership of your life

9. Negative affects on Mental Health
Make a list of things that affect my mental health negatively (make me less happy)…..

10. Negative affects on Mental Health
Bullying
Arguments with family/friends
Thinking negative thoughts and having poor self belief
Feeling lonely or left out
Feeling insecure
Fear of failure

11. How can you help yourself?
Write a list of things you like about yourself and things that you are proud of achieving
Compile a list of the difficult things you have coped with in the past
Plan a goal
Look after yourself, get enough sleep, fluid intake, eat well and exercise
Reward yourself when something goes well
Forgive yourself if something goes wrong and then learn from it
Make time for doing things you enjoy, even if you don’t feel like doing them
Speak to someone you trust/Ask for advice

12. Help is at hand
As well as helping yourself, help can come from a number of other sources…
Within school…..pastoral teacher, trusted teacher, nurse, friends
Outwith school…..relative, friends, GP, youth worker, local youth health team, therapist
Emergency support…..NHS, Hospital, A and E
If you know someone is at risk, you should encourage that person to talk to someone quickly, or you should pass the information to one of the people listed above.

13. False perceptions of Mental Health
Firstly, think about how society view young people. How does the media portray them? What do older citizens often think about young people like yourself?
Make a list of words that are often used to describe young people in society…..

14. Media portrayal of young people
Wears a hoodie
Disrespectful
Abusive/swears
Violent
Gang member
Shoplifts
Vandalises
Lazy
Mugs people
Low intelligence
Drinks alcohol
Parents don’t care

15. False perceptions of Mental Health
Now think about how society view individuals with mental health problems.
Make a list of words that are used to portray people with mental health problems in some films and soaps…..

16. Possible perspectives of a person with mental health problems
Wears a straight jacket
Violent/murders people
Danger to society
Not intelligent
Can’t be cured
Unwashed/unshaven
Criminal
Speaks to self
Sees imaginary things
Lives in a ‘loony bin’
Can’t communicate
Doesn’t understand what’s going on

17. The stigma of Mental Health
What influence do these labels have?
Do they affect how we think about young people or people with mental health problems?
Should we let media/films influence us, even though we know better?
Feelings still exist that people with mental health problems are violent, should be locked up, that they should be feared and isolated/outcast, can be identified by the way they look, should be looked down on.
Exposure to mental health problems, our own or family member or friend’s often destroys these powerful myths.

18. Mental Health: Fact or Myth
Only certain kinds of people develop mental health problems?
False
ANYONE can develop mental health problems.

19. Fact or myth?
There are many different types of mental health problems?
True
In the course of a year, 1 in 4 people will suffer some kind of mental health problem. Many of these problems are mild and temporary and are often related to life circumstances (for children and young people they are often related to what is going on in families and at school). These problems are manageable with help from friends, parents and teachers, and they pass as people move on and find new solutions. However others are more serious and can make people particularly anxious, frightened or angry, or feel undermined, discriminated against and isolated.

20. Fact or myth?
Most people who have a mental health problem end up in hospital?
False
Very few require treatment within a hospital. Research shows that in every 1000 of the population, 300 will experience symptoms that can be described as psychiatric symptoms, of these only 24 will be referred to a psychiatric outpatient department and only 6 will become a patient in a hospital.

21. Fact or myth?
If you think you have a mental health problem you should talk to someone about it?
True
Support is a positive factor in preventing mental health problems and promoting recovery.

22. Fact or myth? People are born with mental health problems? False
You cannot be born with a mental health problem. The belief that you can probably arises from confusion between mental health problems and some learning disabilities.

23. Fact or myth?
You can tell someone has a mental health problem by looking at them?
False
You cannot ‘see’ a mental health problem. Often people confuse physical disability with mental health problems. It needs to be made clear that those are not the same.

24. Fact or myth? You cannot recover from a mental health problem? False
The majority of people who experience a mental health problem do, with help, make a complete recovery. People with long term diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, also experience recovery.
…..”Recovery is about much more than the absence of symptoms-it is about giving people the tools to become active participants in their own health care-it is about having a belief, drive and commitment to the principle that people can and do recover control in their lives, even where they may continue to live with ongoing symptoms…..”(Scottish Recovery Network 2006)
DISCUSS:-What helps people recover from mental health problems? It is important to stress the roles of peers, family, relaxation, leisure time and being supported at school and at work. Talking is key to recovery from a mental health problem or management of one, whether to a counsellor or therapist or a friend, family member or Teacher. Although medication can play a significant role, it is social factors that promote and support recovery.

25. Fact or myth?
People with mental health problems are likely to be violent?
False
The overwhelming majority of people with severe mental health problems experience symptoms which though distressing, do not make them violent or dangerous to the public.
Violence or violent conduct is not a symptom of any mental health problem. A very small minority of people with serious mental health problems are sometimes at risk of harming themselves or others.
Any potential risk can be minimised by early support and an individual, properly managed care plan that teats the patient as a person, capable of recovery.
The risk of being killed by a stranger with a sever mental health problem is roughly 1:10,000,000…..about the same probability as being hit by lightning.