Mental and Emotional Health Chapter 6. Health Goals for Mental and Emotional Health I will develop good character I will interact in ways that help create.

Mental and Emotional Health

Chapter 6Chapter 6

Health Goals for Mental and Emotional Health

• I will develop good character

• I will interact in ways that help create a positive social and emotional environment

• I will develop healthful personality characteristics

• I will choose behaviors to promote a healthy mind

• I will express emotions in healthful ways

• I will use stress management skills

• I will seek help if I feel depressed

• I will use suicide prevention strategies when appropriate

• I will cope with loss and grief in healthful ways

• I will be resilient during difficult times

Health Goal 1: Develop Good Character

• Value: standard of belief

• Character: person’s use of self-control to act on responsible values

• A person who has good character has the self-control to delay gratification when appropriate

• People who have good character set limits for themselves, and their behavior reflects responsible values

• Good character will reflect on one’s self-esteem (self-worth)

Developing Good Character and Improving Self-Esteem

• Pay attention to your appearance

• Make a list of responsible actions and review the list often

• Be a friend to yourself by enjoying activities (e.g., hobbies)

• Write your feelings in a journal

• Make spending time with your family members a priority

• Care for other people in the way you would like to be cared for

• Let other people know what helps you feel special

• Support the interests of family members and friends, and ask them to support your interests

• Ask family members and friends to tell you examples of your actions that have shown character

• Get plenty of exercise to generate feelings of well-being

Health Goal #2: I Will Interact in Ways that Help Create a Positive Social-Emotional

Environment

• Social-emotional environment is the quality of the contacts a person has with the people with whom they interact

• Social-emotional boosters (encouragement and/or support) help promote a positive social-emotional environment

• Social-emotional pollutants cause a negative social-emotional environment and should be avoided, if possible

Strategies to Improve the Social-Emotional Environment

• Minimize contact with people who put you down

• Use positive self-statements if you are with a person/group who are negative

• Spend time with a mentor

• Join a support group

• Expand the network of people with whom you communicate needs, wants, and emotions

• Give others social-emotional boosters

Health Goal #3: I Will Develop Healthful Personality

Characteristics

• An individual’s unique pattern of characteristic = Personality

• Behavior or attitude affects personality

• Other influences include:

– Heredity

– Environment

•Who you have contact or influences with affects personality

Health Goal #4: I Will Choose Behaviors to Promote a Healthy Mind

• Mental alertness does the following:

– Allows quick and watchful actions

– Provides interest in what’s going on in your life

– Allows understanding of providing mental exercise as well as physical concepts

– Creates the ability to learn continuously about new ideas and methods

• Mentally healthy people….

– Feel good about themselves

– Have satisfying relationships

– Set realistic goals

– Can cope with disappointments

Addiction

• A compelling need to take a drug or engage in a specific behavior

• Can cause physical harm, jeopardize safety, harm relationships, cause legal and financial problems

Signs of Addiction

• 1) Having a compelling need to take a drug/engage in a behavior

• 2) Taking a drug/engaging in behavior instead of dealing with feelings of anxiety, depression, boredom, or loneliness

• 3) Feeling bad about oneself after taking a drug/engaging in a behavior

• 4) Taking a drug/engaging in a behavior even when there are negative consequences

• 5) Trying to stop taking a drug or engaging in a behavior but being unable to do so

Types of Addiction

• Drug

• Eating disorders

• Exercise

• Gambling

• Nicotine

• Perfectionism

• Relationship

• Sexual in nature

• Shopping

• Television

• Thrill seeking

• Workaholism

Getting Help for Addiction

• Formal interventions

• Individual therapy

• Group therapy

• Family therapy

• Hospitalization

Codependence Issues

• Codependence is a compulsion to control, take care of, and rescue people by fixing their problems and minimizing their pain

• Enablers are people who support the harmful behaviors of others

• People with codependence issues could benefit from:

– Support groups

– Individual therapy

– Family therapy

Mental Disorders

• Mental/emotional condition that makes it difficult for a person to live in a normal way

• Cause is functional (environmental, stress related, poor coping skills) or organic (physical injuries or illness)

• Six categories of mental disorders:

– Affective -Anxiety

– Dissociative -Personality

– Somatoform -Schizophrenia

Affective Disorders

• Involve extreme moods

• Cause is unknown

• 3 types– Clinical depression

– Bipolar disorder

– Seasonal affective disorder

Anxiety Disorders

• Disorder in which real or imagined fears prevent enjoyment of life, leading to possible panic attacks

• Types– General anxiety disorder (GAD)]

– Phobias

– Obsessive compulsive disorder

– Post-traumatic stress disorder

Dissociative Disorders

• Disorder in which a person has memory loss, confused identity, or more than one identity

• Two types:– Amnesia (inability to recall past)

– Dissociative identity disorder (two or more personalities within the same person)

Personality Disorders

• Disorder in which a person’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting interfere with daily living

• Types:– Antisocial (conflict with society)

– Avoidant (avoids social contact)

– Dependent (cannot function without assistance from others)

– Histrionic (emotional outbursts)

– Narcissistic (boastful and conceited)

– Passive-aggressive (overly compliant to mask anger)

Somatoform Disorders

• Symptoms of disease for which no physical cause can be found

• Two types

– 1) Hypochondria- worried about illness

– 2) Conversion disorder-health changes due to a result of emotional state

Schizophrenia

• Disorder in which there is a split or breakdown in logical thought processes

• Split results in unusual behavior

• Paranoia results as well as delusional thinking

Help for Mental Disorders

• Formal interventions

• Medical evaluations

• Medications

• Support groups

• Long-term recovery plans

Concepts of Expressing Emotions in Healthful Ways

• Communication is the sharing of feelings, thought, information with another person

• Healthful ways to express feelings to promote a healthy mind and body are:

– “I” messages

– Active listening

– Nonverbal communication

Anger Management Skills

• Keep an anger self-inventory

• Use self-statements

• Use “I” vs. “you” messages

• Write a letter

• Write in a journal

• Reduce the effects of anger cues by exercising

• Use safe physical actions to blow off steam

• Keep a sense of humor

• Rehearse what to do in situations that you know are your anger triggers

• Talk with a parent/mentor

Health Goal #6: I Will Use Stress Management Skills

• Stress

• Stressor

• Eustress

• Distress

•Identify the following terms

General Adaptation Syndrome

• Three stages:

-Alarm (fight-or-flight syndrome)

-Resistance (homeostasis)

-Exhaustion (illness or disease concept)

Stress Can Affect Status of Ten Areas of Health in One or More Areas

• Mental and Emotional Health

• Family and Social Health

• Growth and Development

• Nutrition

• Personal Health and Physical Activity

• Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs

• Communicable and Chronic Disease

• Consumer and Community Health

• Environmental Health

• Injury Prevention and Safety

Stress Management Skills

• Use responsible decision-making skills

• Get enough sleep

• Participate in physical activity

• Use a time-management plan

• Write in a journal

• Change your outlook

• Have close friends

• Talk with parents

• Help others

• Express affection in proper ways

• Care for pets

• Keep a sense of humor

Health Goal #7: I Will Seek Help if I Feel Depressed

• Types of depression

– Minor depression

– Dysthymic disorder

– Major depression

•It is estimated that 8 percent of teens have symptoms of depression

Symptoms of Childhood/Adolescent Depression

• Increased irritability

• Being bored

• Outbursts of shouting, complaining, or crying

• Poor school performance or frequent absences

• Fear of death

• Alcohol or substance abuse

• Frequent nonspecific physical complaints

Causes of Depression

• Inability to cope with a life crisis

• Changes in brain structure

• Genetic predisposition

• Low serotonin levels

• Traumatic family events

• Physical illness/disorders

• Alcohol or other drug use

Risks of Depression

• School performance

• Social isolation

• Drug addiction

• Other addictions

• Physical illnesses

• Mental disorders

• Suicide attempts

Treatment for Depression

• Physical exams

• Therapy

• Medication

Anger and Depression

• Can lead to:

– Inability to cope

– Illness

– Family patterns

– Alcohol/drug use

– Suicide attempts (parasuicide)

Health Goal #8: I Will Use Suicide Prevention Strategies When

Appropriate

• 1) Know suicide hotline numbers

• 2) Know what to do when a person feels depressed

• 3) Help the person build a network of support

• 4) Get the person involved in rewarding activities

• 5) Know what to do if someone shows warning signs of suicide

Health Goal #9: I Will Cope with Loss and Grief in Healthful Ways

• Grief is an intense emotional suffering caused by loss

• Causes of grief are:– Changes in the family -Changes in living condition

– Death of a friend -Suicide

– Death of a well-known person -Tragedies in the news

– The end of something special -Holidays

Healthful Ways to Respond to a Loss

• There are no rules about grieving

• Each person grieves in his/her own way/method

• Crying is a healthful expression of emotions and helps release bottled-up tension

• Responses to grief are based on:

– Who we are

– Whom or what we have lost

– How much day-to-day life has changed

Health Goal #10: I Will Be Resilient in Difficult Times

A life crisis is an experience that causes a high level of stress

To be resilient is to be able to adjust, recover, bounce back, and learn from difficult experiences

Resiliency Skills

• Most people respond to a life crisis by working through 5 emotional responses (Kubler-Ross,1997)

• Denying

• Being angry

• Bargaining

• Being depressed

• Accepting

Chapter 6Chapter 6

Mental and Emotional Health