Mental Health

What is it?How do we maintain it?

Estimated 22.1% of Americans 18 & older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year

Defining Mental Health• What is Mental Health? • Write a definition • What are the 3 main components to balanced mental health?

• Think of someone you would say is mentally healthy. Write down: • What would you expect to see?... • What feelings? thoughts? actions?• Appearance? • Anything else?

Components of Mental Health

Experts have identified the following components of Mentally Healthy people:

Definition: Accepting and liking oneself and adapting to and coping with the emotions, challenges and changes that are part of every human being’s life.

3 components:• Feel good about themselves

• Feel comfortable with others

• Able to meeting the demands of life

What can help or interfere with each of the above?

Roadblocks to good mental health• All or nothing thinking.• Expecting the worst• Perfectionist• Actions & words betraying your values

Personal Mental Health Evaluation• What interferes with

• Feeling good about yourself• Feeling comfortable with others• Meeting the demands of lifeList one thing for each section above that helps

Dealing with Emotions…………….

Liking and Accepting Yourself• Realistic assessment of abilities – neither over or under-

estimating your abilities.

What is your greatest strength? ability?

• Healthy decisions based on your values and goals.

What is one decision that you recently made that helped you feel better about yourself?

• Managing the challenges of daily life

Write about how you successfully handled one of the following:

Difficult emotions… Challenging situation or person… Change…

Meeting the Demands of Life• Facing problems as they arise

What do you identify as problems?What are ways people deal with problems?

Appropriate? Inappropriate?

• Asking for help when neededWhat did you recently ask for help with? Whom did you ask?

(Circle of Support)

• Making positive changes when you can and letting go of what you cannot change

What positive steps have you taken to change a situation?What did you have to let go of?

Mental Disorders:• An illness 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.

(difficulty – changes, demands, problems, traumas)

• Organic – caused by a physical illness or injury to the brain. (tumors, infections, drugs, etc)

• Functional – psychological cause and does not involve the brain. (heredity, stress fear, emotional conflict)

• Let’s look at a few categories:

Depressive Disorders• 18.8 million American adults have a depressive disorder• 2 times more women• Appearing earlier in life, compared to past• Usually co-occur with anxiety disorders & substance abuse

Bi-Polar

• 2.3 millions American adults suffer from bi-polar• Men & Women equally likely to develop• Average age at on set is in the early 20’s

• Characterized by:

Anxiety Disorder (4 million)• A condition in which real or imagined fears are difficult to

control. • Arrange their lives to avoid situations.• Phobias (childhood experiences)• OCD • Panic (unexplained feelings of terror)• Post Traumatic

More Life Demands• Developing coping skills and putting them to use.

What coping skills do you find useful?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/mental_health/coping_relaxation.shtml

http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/coping_short_access.html

• Learning from mistakes and disappointmentsWhat do you consider a mistake that you have made?

How did it affect your life? Others? (Remember, there are no mistakes, just life lessons!)

• Making Plans/Goals for the futureWrite down one plan or goal you have for the future.

Feeling Comfortable with Others

• Respecting values, opinions, abilities of others

• Nurturing important friendships

• Recognizing & considering needs/wants of others, but not at the expense of your own safety or self-respect.

In a group of 4-5, write your 5 Steps to Better Mental Health.