Mental and Emotional
Health
Review Step
8.MEH.1.1Evaluate stress management
strategies based on personal
experience.
Scenarios
You do not need to copy the scenarios.
 You will read them out loud and discuss
them as a class.

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?

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.
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 redo the assignment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

8.MEH.1.2 Design a plan to prevent stressors or manage the effects
of stress.
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?
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.”)
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?

Time Management Techniques
 Prioritization
 Time
Mapping
Prioritization: A, B, C Rank Order




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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 C to 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.
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:




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
Blue = time in school
Orange = school work
Green = afterschool activities
Yellow = work
Purple = family time
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
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.
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!
Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are behaviors that an
individual might use to cope with an
uncomfortable situation or problem.
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.

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.
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 – Continual inability
to accept a situation long
after it has occurred.
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.
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.
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.

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.

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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
2011 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey


Suicide is the third leading cause of death for
teens
Of students in grades 6 -8:

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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
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
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.

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.

•
•
•
•
•
•
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
•
•
•
•
•
Isolation
Fatigue or lack of
energy
Feelings of
worthlessness,
hopelessness,
excessive guilt
feelings
Trouble concentrating
Beginning to use
alcohol or drugs

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
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Changes in
personality or
behavior
Frequent thoughts of
death
Death themes in
artwork or written
work
Apathy


Statements such as
“I wish I were dead”
or “No one cares”
Planning a suicide
attempt or a
previous attempt

Giving away prized
possessions

A sudden lift in
spirits because he or
she feels the
problem will soon
end


Self-injury is the act
of deliberately
destroying body
tissue, at times to
change a way of
feeling.
It is an intentional
act, repetitive, and
results in minor to
moderate harm
without the intent to
cause death.

Self-injury often
occurs in secret –
person hides the
self-injury from
others.

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Cutting
Burning
Pin-Sticking
Carving
Scratching
Branding
Marking
Head-banging
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Picking and pulling
skin and hair
Abrasions (scrapes
of bruises
Biting
Hitting
Breaking bones
Tattooing
Excessive body
piercing
Why Do They Hurt Themselves?




To escape from
emotional pain, such
as anger or anxiety
To release tension
To physically express
pain
To express feelings of
emptiness, loneliness,
helplessness




An attempt to feel/be
more in control
To protect themselves
from pain
Not understood by
others
To induce a pleasure
state from the
endorphins that are
released
Frequent or
unexplained scars,
cuts, bruises, and
burns (often on the
arms, thighs,
abdomen)
 Consistent,
inappropriate use of
clothing to cover scars
 General signs of
depression




Secretive behavior,
spending unusual
amounts of time in the
bathroom or other
isolated areas
Social or emotional
isolation and
disconnectedness
Substance abuse



Possession of sharp
instruments, (razor
blades, thumb tacks,
pins)
Indications of
extreme anger,
sadness, or pain
Images of physical
harm in class or
creative work

Extreme risk-taking
behaviors that could
result in injuries
Giving Help
Let him or her know that you care and want
to help.
 Acknowledge that your friend has a problem
and that the symptoms are serious. Ask
about suicide.
 Convince your friend to ask for help. This
may include your talking to a trusted adult.

Warning Signs and Ways to Help
Warning Signs
Decline in school
performance
 Skipping class
 Dropping out of
activities
 Aggressive or
destructive behavior
 Insomnia
 Daytime sleepiness
 Difficulty concentrating

Warning Signs
 Lack
of energy
 Changes in eating patterns, either overeating or not eating
 Withdrawal from relationships with
friends and family
 Isolation
 Feelings of worthlessness, excessive
guilt
Warning Signs





Risk taking behavior
Changes in personality or behavior
Beginning to use alcohol or other drugs
Giving away prized possessions
Statements, such as “I wish I were dead” or
“No one cares”
Warning Signs





Loss of interest in everyday
activities, even things they
enjoy doing
Apathy
Death themes in artwork or
written work
Planning a suicide attempt or
a previous attempt
A sudden lift of spirits
because they feel their
problems will soon end
Ways to Help
Take any signs or
verbal statements
seriously.
 Listen to the
person and show
him or her that
you care.
 Don’t leave the
person alone.

Ways to Help

Build a network of support:
 Friends
 Family members
 Counselors
 Teachers
 Faith leader
 Health care provider
Ways to Help
Call a suicide hotline number.
Check your local telephone book
for a local hotline number.
 Get professional help.
 Seek out local agencies that
could provide professional
counseling services.
 Seek a trusted adult.
