Mental/Emotional Health Stress and Anxiety Disorders

Mental/Emotional Health Stress and Anxiety Disorders Chapter 7, 8, 9

Myth or Fact • People who have mental and emotional disorders are typically violent. • Mental and emotional disorders are true medical illnesses like heart disease • Most people can “snap out of” their depression if they try hard enough • Depression and other mental or emotional disorders do not affect children or adolescents

Myth or Fact • People are less likely to seek treatment for mental disorders than for physical disorders • People who talk about suicide should always be taken seriously. • Being treated for a mental or an emotional disorder means that an individual has failed in someway or is responsible for the problem • Getting help for a mental problem is difficult and expensive

Mental/EmotionalHealth • Mental/Emotional is the ability to accept yourself and others, adapt to and manage emotions, and deal with the demands and challenges you meet in life. • People with good Mental/emotional Health demonstrate the following characteristics. • Getting help for a mental problem is difficult and expensive. • Positive self-esteem- Your feelings of confidence and self esteem are directly related to your general level of wellness • Sense of Belonging- emotional attachment to family, friends, teachers, provides comfort and assurance. • Sense of Purpose- Recognizing your own value. • Positive Outlooks- Having hope about life, it reduces stress and increases your energy level. • Autonomy- Having the confidence to make responsible and safe decisions. Sense of independence

Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs • Abraham Maslow was a pioneer in psychology. • Maslow organized human needs in the form of a pyramid call the hierarchy of needs. • Hierarchy of needs- is a ranked list of those needs essential to human growth and development.

Level 5 Reaching Potential Level 4 Feeling Recognized Level 3 Belonging Level 2 Safety Level 1 Physical

Hierarch of Needs • Physical Needs- Survival needs such as food, water, sleep, and Shelter from the elements are among the need at the bottom of the pyramid. • Need for Safety- includes more than just safeguarding yourself against physical harm. • Need to be loved and to belong- Everyone needs to give love and to know that he or she is loved in return. Babies who are denied emotional attention may be stunted mentally. • Feeling Recognized- Most of us feel a need to be appreciated, to be personally valued by family, friends, and peers. • Reaching your Potential- Self-actualization is thestriving to become the best you can be-includes having goals that motivates and inspire you. It means having the courage to make changes in your life in order to reach your goals and grow as a person.

Personality • Personality- is a complex set of characteristics that makes you unique. • It’s what makes you different from everyone else and determines how you will react in certain situations. • Personality includes an individual's emotional makeup, attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors.

Personality • Personality and Heredity • Just like you inherit physical traits such as hair and eye color, you inherit some personality traits from your parents. • You still have control over your own personality. • Personality and Environment • Environment includes everything that surrounds you in your day-to-day life. Meaning your family, friends, peers, home, neighborhood, and school. • Modeling- observing and learning from the behaviors of those around you. • Personality and Behavior • The one aspect of your personality over which you have the most control is your behavior. • How you make decision, what decision you make, whether you recognize the consequences of those decisions,

Personal Identity • Personal Identity-is your sense of yourself as a unique individual. • To develop your personal identity includes: • your interest • your likes and dislikes • your talents and abilities • your values and beliefs • your goals

Developmental assets • Developmental assets are the building blocks of development that help young people grow up as healthy, caring, and responsible individuals. • Support • Empowerment • Expectations • Constructive use of time • Commitment to learning • Positive Values • Social skills • Positive Identity

Healthy Identity • Recognize your strengths and weaknesses • Accept and take pride in your strengths and accomplishments. • Demonstrate Positive Values • Your values, beliefs and ideas about what is important in your life, guide your actions and influence the decisions you make. • Develop a purpose in your life • Having a sense of purpose means establishing goals and working to achieve them. • From MEANINGFUL relationships • Positive relationships provide one way to have a purpose in your life. • Relationships give you a support system as well as building confidence and develop a sense of security and belonging. • Contribute to the Community • Your community is an extended support system for you and your family, it provides services and resources to meet many of your needs. Giving back to the community is part of being a good citizen and it helps you feel a sense of accomplishment. • Avoid unhealthy risk behaviors • Risk taking is a normal part of growing up, such as engaging in sports, public speaking, making new friends, HOWEVER ATOD’s, or reckless driving can be dangerous and not necessary. Keep in mind the aspects of your identity, such as your values, that you are trying to uphold.

Self-Esteem • When you have a healthy identity, you will experience increase self-esteem and a higher level of mental/emotional health. • Self-esteem comes from understanding that you are unique and valuable human being. • To increase self-esteem and develop a positive outlook on life, it is essential to see events realistically. • For example, a students who has just failed an exam may think that she is stupid and will always fail. • Constructive Criticism- non-hostile comments that point our problems and encourage improvement.

Emotions • Emotions are signals that tell your mind and body how to react. • Emotions are sometimes referred to as feelings, emotions are your responses to certain thought and events. • Emotions affect all sides of your health triangle. • Joy can prompt the release of brain chemicals that cause you to experience warmth and a sense of well being • Fear can trigger physical changes, including increase perspiration, a rise in heart rate, and tightening of muscles. • Fight or Flight response • Strong emotions like anger can cause both physical and mental responses.

Identifying Your Emotions • Sometimes you know exactly what you are feelings and why. • Sometimes you may experience emotions that seem to have no apparent cause. • Hormones- is a chemical secreted by your glands that regulates the activities of different body cells. • May cause you to swing quickly between extreme emotions such as depression. • Mixed emotions, such as when you feel both jealous of and happy for a friends, also can be challenging.

Identifying Your Emotions • Happiness • pleased or that you feel good or carefree • Sadness • healthy reaction to difficult events. Caused from disappointment, a loss or rejected. • Love • Strong affection, deep concern and respect • Empathy • Is the ability to imagine and understand how someone else feels. • Fear • Fear is an emotional response to tangible and realistic dangers. • Guilt • Guilt is an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes that he or she has violated a moral standards or values. • Anger • Common reaction to being emotionally hurt or physically harmed. • hostility is the intentional use of unfriendly or offensive behavior, can be particularly damaging, not only to others but also to the hostile person.

Dealing with Emotions in Positive Ways • Important to evaluate methods of communicating feelings and practice healthful ways of expression • Negative ways of dealing with feelings do nothing to solve problems. • Exaggerating emotions for effect pretending that feeling are not there at all or intentionally hurting another person which expression feeling can worsen the situation and create new problems

Responding to Your Emotions • Look below the surface of the problem. • consider whether or not the situation to which you are reacting will matter tomorrow, next week, or next year. • Don’t take action on a strong feeling until you have considered all the possible consequences of your actions. • Use positive feelings to inspire yourself. • If a negative feeling doesn’t go away, seek help from a parent, another trusted adult, or a health care professional.

Managing Difficult Emotions • Use Defense Mechanisms • Are the mental processes that protect individuals from strong or stressful emotions and situations • suppression- is holding back or retraining, can provide a temporary escape from an unpleasant situation. • Handling Fear • Identify the fear. Analyzing the situation that causes the fear often helps. Some fear is healthy and natural; only when fear is irrational or incontrollable should you consider it a problem. • Dealing with Guilty • Can be a very destructive emotion. • You need to find the underlying source and address it. • Discuss the situation with friends or family can help. • Managing Anger • Most difficult emotions to handle. • Constructively dealing with anger is similar to dealing with guilt. • You need to find the underlying source and address it.

Stress • Stress is the reaction of the body and mind to everyday challenges and demands. • Perception is the act of becoming of events that cause stress. • One way to manage stress is to change how you perceive and react to events that cause it • Stress is not necessarily good or bad, it can have positive or negative effects. • Good/Positive- Performing better under the stress of competition. • Bad/Negative- Losing sleep because of a flight with a loved one

What Causes Stress? • Stressor- is anything that causes stress. • Biological Stressors • Such as illness, disabilities, or injuries • Environmental Stressors • Such as poverty, pollution, crowding, noise, or natural disasters • Cognitive (Thinking) Stressors • Such as the way you perceive a situation or how it affects you and the world around you. • Personal Behavior Stressors • Such as negative reactions in the body and mind caused by using ATOD’s or lack of physical activity • Life Situation Stressors • Such as death, separation or divorce of parents or having trouble in relationships with peers.

The Body’s Stress Response • The two major body systems, the Nervous system and the Endocrine system, are active during the body’s response to stressors. • Alarm • First stage in the stress response. Body and mind go on high alert. • Resistance • Second stage in the stress response. Your body adapts to the rush created by alarm and reacts to the stressors. This is the stage in which you “fight” or take “flight” • Fatigue • Physical fatigue-results when the muscles work vigorously for long periods, often leading to soreness and pain. • Psychological fatigue- can result from constant worry, overwork, depression, boredom, isolation, or feeling overwhelmed by too many responsibilities. • Pathological fatigue-is the tiredness brought on by overworking the body’s defenses in fighting disease. • Prolonged or repeated stress can lead to stress related illnesses causes by the changes that take place in your body during these three stages

Stress and your Health • Physical Effects • Headache • Asthma • High Blood Pressure • Weakened immune system • Mental/Emotional and Social Effects • Difficulty concentrating • Mood Swings • Risk of substance abuse

Chronic Stress • Chronic Stress- stress associated with long-term problems that are beyond a person’s control. • Could last for months • Symptoms include upset stomach, headache, insomnia, changes in appetite, and feeling anxious. • Strategies for controlling Chronic Stress • Engage in physical activity • Look for support from friends and family • Find a hobby or activity that relaxes you • Avoid ATOD’s

Ways to Manage Stress • Plan Ahead • Get Adequate Sleep • Get Regular Physical Activity • Eat Nutritious Food • Avoid ATOD’s • Stress management skill- are skills that help an individual handle stress in a healthful, effective way. Techniques include: • Redirect your energy • Relax and laugh-relaxation response is a state of calm that can be reach if one or more relaxation techniques are practiced regularly. • Keep a positive outlook. • Seek out support

Anxiety • Anxiety is the condition of feeling uneasy or worried about what may happen. • Symptoms include: • feelings of fear • perspiration, trembling, restlessness, or muscle tension • rapid heat rate, lightheadedness, or shortness of breath • Managing Anxiety • Stress management techniques, such as redirecting your energy or doing relaxation exercises, can be used to reduce the day to day anxieties of life.

Depression • Depression is a prolonged feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness, is much stronger than the occasional sad mood and is not as easy to manage. • Reactive Depression • is a response to a stressful event, such as death. • Major Depression • is a medical condition requiring treatment. • More severe and last much longer than reactive depression. • Could develop from reactive depression • Symptoms of Teen Depression irritable or restless mood • withdrawal from friends • A change in appetite or weight • feelings of guilt or worthlessness • a sense of hopelessness • Many people experience a few of these symptoms once in a while its normal, Its not normal to experience several of them at the same time for two weeks or more

Resiliency • Resiliency • is the ability to adapt effectively and recover from disappointment, difficulty, or crisis. • Resilient people are able to handle adversity in healthful ways and achieve long term success. • Having some of the development assets will likely strengthen a person’s resiliency. • Factors that Affects Resiliency • External Factors- Include your family, your school, and your family. • Internal Factors- • Commitment to learning • Positive values • Social awareness • Positive identity • Protective Factors

Mental Disorders • Mental disorders are illnesses of the mind that can affect the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of a person, preventing him or her from leading a happy, healthful, and productive life. • Mental disorders are classified as either organic or functional. • Organic disorder is caused by a physical illness or an injury that affects the brain. • Functional disorder has a psychological cause and does not involve brain damage. These disorders may result from heredity, stress, emotional, conflict, fear, ineffective coping skills, or other conditions. • Four Type of disorders: • Anxiety Disorders • Mood Disorders • Conduct Disorders • Personality Disorders

Types of Mental Disorders Anxiety Disorders • Anxiety Disorders- a condition in which real or imagined fears are difficult to control. • Phobia- Strong and irrational fear of something specific, such as high places or dogs. People with phobias do everything they can to avoid the object of their fear. • Obsessed Compulsive Disorder- is trapped in a pattern of repeated thoughts or behaviors. • Panic Disorder- Sudden, unexplained feelings of terror. “Panic attacks” are accompanied by symptoms such as trembling, a pounding heart, shortness of breaths. • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-is an illness, often with an organic cause, that involves mood extremes that interfere with everyday living

Types of Mental DisordersMood Disorders • Mood Disorders- Is an illness, often with an organic cause, that involves mood extremes that interfere with everything living • Clinical Depression- Chemical imbalance that a person cannot overcome without professional help. • Bipolar Disorder-(manic-depressive disordered) is marked by extreme mood changes, energy levels, and behavior. • Eating Disorders

Types of Mental DisordersConduct Disorders • Conduct Disorders- a pattern of behavior in which the rights of others or basic social rules are violated. • Schizophrenia • is a severe mental disorder in which a person loses contact with reality. • Symptoms include: delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorders. • Causes are a combination of genetic factors and chemical and structural changes in the brain. • This disease affects both men and woman and usually first appears between ages of 18-35.

Types of Mental DisordersPersonality Disorders • Personality refers to an individual’s unique traits and behavior patterns. • People with this disease think and behave in ways that make it difficult for them to get along with others. • Antisocial Disorder- People with this disorder tend to be irritable, aggressive, impulsive, and violent. • Borderline Personality Disorder- People with this disorder frequently experience a series of trouble relationships. • Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder- People with this disorder are often uncooperative. They resent being told what to do. Yet they relay on others’ directions.

Suicide • Suicide- the most drastic of all measures, is the act of intentionally taking one’s own life. • Most suicide thoughts, behaviors, and actions are expressions of extreme distress, not bids for attention. • More than 90% of the people who kill themselves are suffering from depression or another mental disorder or are abusing alcohol or drugs. • Multiple Suicides are a series of suicides occurring within a short period of time and involving several people in the same school or community.

Preventing Suicide • Although most thought about committing suicide are impulsive and temporary the unfortunate consequence death or debilitating injury is permanent. More than 90% of the people who kill themselves are suffering from depression or another mental disorder or are abusing alcohol or drugs. • Warning Signs • Figure 9.2

Helping Others • Suicidal people often believe that their death will not matter. • It is critical to show concern and empathy for someone who is talking about suicide. • Initiate a meaningful conversation- showing interest and compassion for a person is key. Listen, be patient and understanding. • Show support and ask questions- Remind the person that most problem have solutions. • Try to persuade the person to seek help- Encourage the person to talk with a parent, counselor, therapist, or trusted adult.

Therapy Methods • Psychotherapy- is an ongoing treatment between a patient and a mental health professional. • Behavior therapy- is a treatment process that focuses. • Cognitive therapy- is a treatment method designed to identify and correct distorted thinking patterns that can leas to feelings and behaviors that may be troublesome, self-defeating, or self destructive. • Group therapy- involves treating a group of people who have similar problems and who meet regularly with a trained counselor.

Death and Grief • Coping is dealing successfully with difficult changes in your life. • Grief response an individual’s total response to a major loss. • Mourning is the act of showing sorrow or grief.

The Grieving Process • Denial -A person does not believe the loss has occurred • Emotional Release- These reactions come with recognition of the loss and often involve periods of crying, which is important to the healing process • Anger- Feeling powerless and unfairly deprived, the person may lash out. • Bargaining- As the reality of the loss becomes clear, the person may promise to change if only what was lost can be returned. • Depression- Beyond the natural feelings of sadness, feeling of isolation, and hopelessness occur as the person. • Remorse- The person may become preoccupied with thoughts about what he or she could have done to prevent the loss or make things better. • Acceptance- The stage can involve a sense of power, allowing the person to face reality. • Hope- Eventually the person reaches a point when remembering becomes less painful and he or she begins to look ahead to the future

Mental/Emotional Health Stress and Anxiety Disorders