8 th Grade

1. Mental and Emotional Health 8th Grade

2. Review Step 8.MEH.1.1Evaluate stress management strategies based on personal experience. Stress-provoking Scenarios

3. Scenarios • You do not need to copy the scenarios. • You will read them out loud and discuss them as a class.

4. Instructions • Have a student read the following scenarios aloud. • Discuss as a class if the teens’ response is appropriate for the situation or inappropriate. • If it is not useful, why not?

5. Scenario 1 Tom worked very hard on a project for school. Danny waited until the last minute to do his project and then asked to copy from Tom. Danny implied that if Tom did not let him copy, Danny would no longer be his friend. Tom decides to allow Danny to copy his work.

6. Scenario 2 Farah's teacher gave the class unclear directions about a project. Farah worked harder than most of her classmates on her project, only to find that she had done the project all wrong. Farah approaches her teacher and explains her confusion and asks for an opportunity to re-do the assignment.

7. Scenario 3 Mike has grown up in the southern part of the United States. Recently, he moved to the northern part of the country. Some students make fun of the way Mike talks. Mike decides to tell students that they sound different to him, as well, but he bets they have more in common than they might think. He asks if anyone wants to go to the skate park after school.

8. Scenario 4 Molly's parents are getting divorced and she feels overwhelmed and unable to think. She knows that her mom has some medicine in the bathroom that she sometimes takes for her “nerves”. Molly decides to take one to help her anxiety.

9. Scenario 5 Sally invites Ann to go shopping. When they get to the store, Sally finds she has enough money to buy clothes, but not enough to buy a pair of earrings she wants. She asks Ann to slip the earrings in her pocket while she pays for the clothes. Ann thinks stealing is wrong, but she really wants to be friends with Sally. Ann drops the earrings in her backpack and walks out of the store.

10. Scenario 6 Owen feels overwhelmed with all of the stuff he needs to everyday. He loves to play his guitar, he likes school (especially his Visual Arts class)and wants to do well. He also enjoys playing sports and walking dogs at the local animal shelter. Owen decides to create a “Things To Do Today/Week List” to help prioritize all of his activities.

11. Scenario 7 Kim is preparing to give a speech tomorrow. She is nervous and fidgety and is afraid she won't be able to sleep. She decides to ask her mom if she can practice on her when she is finished writing her speech, then do the progressive muscular exercises she was taught in school.

12. Scenario 8 Allen believes a friend of his is depressed, maybe even thinking about suicide. Allen decides to tell his friend that he is worried about her and persuades her to speak with their teacher.

13. Copy ALL the following notes • Mental health - The way people think about and respond to events in their daily lives. • Emotion – a feeling produced in response to a life event. • Emotional health – the way a person experiences and deals with feelings

14. Review Continued • Hormones – chemicals that helps control how the body grows and functions. • Emotional spectrum – a set of emotions arranged by how pleasant they are. • Triggers – situations, people and events that cause a person to feel an emotion.

15. Emotional Spectrum Activity • List some POSITIVE emotions • List some NEGATIVE emotions • Create a emotional spectrum (like the one below) using three of the positive emotions and three of the negative emotions. • See page 78 for example

16. Physical Responses Caused by Emotions • Fear- increased heart and breathing rates, sweating, trembling, dry mouth, hot flashes or chills, dilated pupils • Anger- increased heart rate and blood pressure, pacing or agitation, red face, hot flashes, trembling, or muscle tension • Sadness- poor energy or fatigue, difficulty concentrating, crying

17. Physical responses caused by emotions continued… • Happiness- laughter, more energy, lower blood pressure and heart rate • Love- symptoms of fear and happiness, “butterflies” in the stomach, preoccupation with loved one

18. Emotions • ALL emotions – even unpleasant ones – can be a healthy part of life. • Expressing emotions in healthy ways allows you to communicate them to other people. • Emotions can be expressed without words.

19. Emotions continued • Body Language – is expressing emotions with the face, hands, and posture. • Active Listening – is not only hearing but also showing that you understand what a person is saying. • Self esteem – a measure of how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself.

21. Worksheet • Complete the worksheet. • You may use your book and notes to complete the worksheet. • Do not work with other students. • This is a grade.

22. 8.MEH.1.2 Design a plan to prevent stressors or manage the effects of stress. Time managementday 2

23. Time Management • Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. or... • What will I do and how will I do it?

24. Why learn time management? • Poor time management = stress • Common Road blocks: • The idea that time is adjustable rather than fixed • Idea that time management techniques don’t work • Crisis management rather than time management (“But I work better under pressure.”)

25. Think, Pair, Share • How is decision-making relevant to time management? • Why is time management necessary for reaching your short-term goals? • Why are short-term goals necessary for reaching your long-term goals?

26. Time Management Techniques • Prioritization • Time Mapping

27. Prioritization: A, B, C Rank Order • Brainstorm a “To Do” list of everything you need to accomplish in one week (or month, or year). depending upon short- or long-term goals • Assign an A to all of the things that must get done as soon as possible. • Assign a Cto all of the things you would like to do but are not essential. • Assign a B to everything else. • Rewrite your “To Do” List in the new order (A items, B items, C items), then complete these tasks in that order.

28. Time Mapping • Make a “To Do” list of all things you need to complete in a week, and all things you would like to complete in a week. • Assign a color to common tasks, for example: • Blue = time in school • Orange = school work • Green = afterschool activities • Yellow = work • Purple = family time • Using a weekly calendar with hour segments of time, list the activity that needs to be completed in the block(s) and color-code each activity.

29. Time Sinks • The things that take up more time than you anticipate and get you behind schedule • What are some common “Time Sinks” that you deal with? Hint: this might be one!

30. Defense MechanismsDay 3

31. Defense Mechanisms • Defense mechanisms are behaviors that an individual might use to cope with an uncomfortable situation or problem.

32. Compensation • A person tries to make up for his/ her weaknesses by developing strengths in other areas. • Example – A struggling student with a learning disability becomes a leader in the art club. • Harmful – Not trying to overcome the weakness.

33. Daydreaming • A person escapes unpleasant, boring, or frustrating situations by imagining that he or she is doing something else. • Example – A shy student imagines that he/she is homecoming king/queen. • Harmful – Refusal to accept reality and spending too much time in an imaginary world.

34. Denial • Refusal to accept reality. • Example – A student finds out that a relative has a terminal disease. The student continues to act as though the relative is going to live. • Harmful – Continualinability to accept a situation long after it has occurred.

35. Displacement • A person transfers the emotions he or she feels from the original situation or object to another situation or object. • Example – A student is angry with a parent but yells at his/her brother or sister. • Harmful – Continuously taking anger out on an innocent person.

36. Humor • A person focuses on the funny aspects of a painful situation. • Example - A person is called a bad name and then refers to himself by that name to deflect the teasing. • Harmful – Person is accepting a social injustice. Name-calling should not be tolerated.

37. Identification • A person tries to assume the qualities of someone that is admired. • Example - A students wants to be like a famous person so they begin to dress and act like that person. • Harmful – Measuring own worth to someone else’s standards instead of developing one’s own strengths.

38. Projection • A person shifts the blame and/or responsibility for his/her actions or thoughts to another person. • Example – A student does poorly on a test and says that the teacher wrote an unfair test. • Harmful – Refusal to accept responsibility for actions.

39. Rationalization • An attempt to justify one’s actions with an excuse rather than by admitting one’s failure or mistake. • Example – A student justifies flunking a test because he/she was absent the day it was scheduled. [Or, the dog ate his homework!] • Harmful - Refusal to accept responsibility for actions.

40. Regression • Retreating to an earlier time that seems less threatening and requires less responsibility. • Example – A student has trouble fitting in at middle school so he/she returns and visits their elementary school, thinking that it would be nice to stay there. • Harmful – Refusal to move on and mature within a reasonable amount of time.

41. Repression • Blocking out thoughts about unpleasant things or experiences. Repression is actually an unconscious method of escaping something unpleasant. • Example – A woman is raped, she pushes the thought out of her mind, she doesn’t even think it happened. • Harmful – Inability to recognize what has happened, especially if she needs to receive help.

42. Sublimation • Transforming unacceptable behaviors into acceptable ones. Sublimation can involve redirecting specific behaviors. • Example – A student likes to get into arguments, so he/she decides to join the debate team. • Harmful – Inability to recognize the need to change unacceptable behaviors into acceptable ones.

43. Suppression • The effort to hide and control unacceptable thoughts and feelings. • Example – A student is attracted to someone, but he/she says that they do not like the person at all. • Harmful – Inability to let true feeling show.

44. Recognizing Signs of Hurting Self or Others

45. What Do You Think? How is a two-year-old (who falls in the middle of a pool and is drowning) like a teenager who is depressed or suicidal? Both need someone to help them or they will die. Both do not have the skills they need to help themselves. As the child goes deeper into the water, so does the teenager get deeper into their depression. Both can be prevented. Both need professional help. Source: Deb Tackman, Outrageous Teaching Techniques in Health Education

46. 2011 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey • Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens • Of students in grades 6 -8: • 24% of students who felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months. • 20.8 % seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year • 13.1 % made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the past 12 months • 9.5 % reported attempting suicide • Same risk and protective factors for suicide and other problem behaviors such as drugs, violence, risky sexual behavior

47. 2011 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey • Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens • Of students in grades 9-12: • 28.3% of students who felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months. • 14.3% seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year • 13.5% made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the past 12 months • 5.0% reported attempting suicide • Same risk and protective factors for suicide and other problem behaviors such as drugs, violence, risky sexual behavior

48. Depression • Depression is more than the “blues” or the “blahs.” It is more than the normal everyday ups and downs. • Clinical depression is a medical condition. It is when feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and despair persist and interfere with a person’s ability to function. • Many adults and teenagers do not recognize the symptoms of depression in themselves or others.

49. Depression • Depression affects people of all ages. • It will affect more than 19 million people every year. • Some people experience only one episode of depression in their entire life, but others may have several episodes of depression. • Depression can begin suddenly for no apparent reason, while others can be associated with a life situation.

50. Warning Signs of Suicide • Insomnia • Change in eating patterns, either overeating or not eating • Daytime sleepiness • Aggressive or destructive behavior • Risk-taking behavior • Difficulty concentrating • Loss of interest in activities one used to enjoy • Decline in school performance, skipping class, dropping out of activities • Withdrawal from relationships with friends and family