Rationale: Students apply their knowledge of mental health to identify and minimize harms they will be faced with in relevant contexts outside of school. Students participate in meaningful scenarios relevant to their own lives as they become more independent and increasingly responsible for their health. As students identify ways to seek help, for their self and others they develop appropriate communication and coping skills when faced with problems or decisions related to their mental health.
Outcomes: 5.6 – A student analyses attitudes, behaviours and consequences related to health issues affecting young people.
SLA:
• mental health
– understanding mental health
– maintaining connections
– help-seeking behaviours
– loss and grief: helpful and unhelpful strategies
– reaching out: helping yourself and helping others
SLT:
• challenge negative community perceptions of mental health and identify reasons why these have developed
• suggest positive strategies to deal with loss and grief
Skills:
· Communication
· problem solving
· decision making.
Learning experience:
1. Students are divided into pairs and research either depression or anxiety (not OCD) using the Beyond Blue web page: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?
2. Students find information regarding signs and symptoms, helping yourself, helping others, people at risk.
3. In pairs, students will do a role play, student 1 will suffer from either depression or anxiety, and are phoning Lifeline (13 11 14) for help from a professional (student 2) who must analyse and evaluate the situation using information they have gathered.
4. Students pick a scenario (resource 1) relevant to the mental disorder they have researched.
5. Students perform their role play scenario for 10 minutes.
6. Students may then swap roles or pick a new scenario to role play.
Stimulus:
· Scenarios (Resource 1)
· Beyondblue: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?
Discussion Questions:
· What is mental health?
· Who can you go to or where can you find help and support?
· How can you help others?
· When dealing with a loss or grief, what is helpful and what are unhelpful strategies for coping?
· Why have negative perceptions of mental health developed? What can you do?
Resources:
Resource (1) Scenarios:
1. Student 1: Lately you have been feeling tired all of the time and you don’t like doing the things you once enjoyed. This started after the death of your grandfather and has been going on for a few months. Sometimes you just feel like you want to get drunk to forget it all.
Student 2: You must discuss with the patient the signs and symptoms they are feeling, explain why it has happened and what they can do to get better. How can this person deal with their loss and grief and what are they doing that is unhelpful?
2. Student 1: Since starting year 12, you notice that your best friend hasn’t been herself and you are worried about her. You don’t know how to help her because she won’t tell you what is wrong. She is falling behind in class and is always tired. What can you do to help her?
Student 2: It sounds like the friend is suffering from an anxiety disorder. Discuss with the person which disorder it is most likely to be and what she can do to help her friend.
3. Student 1: Ever since your parents divorce, you have noticed that your eldest brother is always cranky and has nightmares almost every night. He doesn’t like you talking about the divorce. You are worried about him and want to help.
Student 2: It sounds like the brother is suffering from an anxiety disorder due to large trauma. Discuss other symptoms to identify the disorder and ways in which the younger sibling can help.
4. Student 1: You are an 18 year old and all of your friends are always out partying. They tease and bully you because you never want to go out with them. You can’t tell them that the reason for this is because you are scared of large gatherings of people. You think they will see you as a freak because they won’t understand. You want to know why they are so cruel to you if you have something wrong.
Student 2: This young person is suffering from a disorder that only 9% of the Australian population has. They think they are not normal because of it. Identify the disorder, you may need to discuss other symptoms, describe ways they can get help. Explain how/why negative community perceptions of mental health exist.
5. Student 1: You are embarrassed because sometimes you all of a sudden get feelings of dread, chest pains and shortness of breath. You did some research on the net and think it is a panic disorder so you tried to tell your best friend but he just laughed. Student 2: Explain how/why negative community perceptions of mental health exist in relation to the friend’s reaction. Talk about ways they can get help and what their friend can do to help.
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