MENTAL HEALTH
(CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE)
1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Ø Discuss some of the commonly held
misconceptions surrounding mental health
Ø Describe what mental health means
Ø Discuss what can affect mental health and
wellbeing
Ø Discuss what signs to look out for when
concerned about an individual’s mental health
Ø Discuss what protects, promotes and supports
mental health
Ø List resources that can help support mental
2
health and wellbeing
OVERVIEW
• What is mental health?
• The statistics
• What can affect children and young peoples mental health?
• What to look out for?
• Protecting, promoting and supporting CYP mental health
• Looking after yourself
3
MENTAL HEALTH QUIZ
Let’s start by looking at some of the
myths that surround mental health.
Answer True or False to the
following statements:
TRUE OR FALSE?
Only certain kinds of people develop
mental health problems.
5
QUIZ ANSWERS
False-Anyone can develop
a mental health problem.
6
TRUE OR FALSE?
There are many different types of
mental health problems
7
QUIZ ANSWERS
True-There are many
different types of mental
health problems.
8
TRUE OR FALSE?
Most people who have mental
health problems end up in hospital
9
QUIZ ANSWERS
False-Very few require
hospital treatment.
10
TRUE OR FALSE?
If you think you have a mental
health problem you should talk
to someone about it
11
QUIZ ANSWERS
True-Support is a positive
factor in preventing
mental health problems
and promoting recovery
12
TRUE OR FALSE?
People are born with mental
health problems
13
QUIZ ANSWERS
False - You cannot be born
with a mental health
problem.
14
TRUE OR FALSE?
You can tell someone has a
mental health problem by
looking at them
15
QUIZ ANSWERS
False-You cannot “see” a
mental health problem.
16
TRUE OR FALSE?
You cannot recover from
mental health problems
17
QUIZ ANSWERS
False-The majority of
people who experience a
mental health problem
do with help, make a
complete recovery.
18
TRUE OR FALSE?
People with mental health
problems are likely to be violent
19
QUIZ ANSWERS
False-The overwhelming majority of
people with severe mental health
problems experience symptoms
which though distressing, do not
make them violent or dangerous
to the public
20
WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH? -
QUICKTHINK
Now we are going to explore what we
mean by mental health?
“Mental health is defined as
a state of well-being in
WHAT IS which every individual
realizes his or her own
MENTAL potential, can cope with the
normal stresses of life, can
HEALTH? work productively and
fruitfully, and is able to
make a contribution to her
or his community”
• (World Health Organisation)
STATISTICS
11% of 18-34 year olds
Every year 1 in 10 young Over ¾ of mental health report having attempted
people experiences a problems have their onset suicide and 16% report self-
mental health problem by the age of 20 harm at some stage in their
lives
Young people in the youth
Children affected by
justice system are 3 times
Suicide is the largest cause learning disabilities are 4
more likely to experience a
of mortality for young times more likely to have a
diagnosable mental health
people under 35 diagnosable emotional
condition than children who
mental health problem
don’t offend
¾ of children raised in local
authority residential homes
meet with criteria for a
psychiatric diagnosis
STATISTICS-
FEEDBACK
Discussion point:
Having read the
statistical information,
what are your thoughts
and views, are you
surprised?
WHAT CAN AFFECT YOUNG PEOPLES
MENTAL HEALTH ?
We have looked at some of the
myths, what we mean by mental
health and some of the statistics, now
we are going to look at what can
affect young peoples mental health.
WHAT CAN AFFECT CYP MENTAL HEALTH ?
• Poverty • Physical abuse
• Bereavement • Sexual abuse
• Imprisonment • Peer pressure
• Divorce/separatio • School pressures
n
• Caring
• Bullying
responsibilities
• Long term illness
• Addiction
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR?
We have looked at what can affect young
peoples mental health and now we are
going to explore when we should be
worried about Young Peoples mental
health?
What signs would we be looking for?
When we should be worried about
Young People’s mental health?
•Marked changes in personality, eating or sleeping patterns
•An inability to cope with problems or daily activities
•Feeling of disconnection or withdrawal from normal
activities
•Unusual or "magical" thinking
•Excessive anxiety
•Prolonged sadness, depression or apathy
•Thoughts or statements about suicide or harming others
•Substance misuse
•Extreme mood swings
•Excessive anger, hostility or violent behavior
PROTECTING, PROMOTING AND
SUPPORTING CYP MENTAL HEALTH
Good coping and Support through
problem solving ongoing mental
skills health care
Stable and
Supportive
supportive
trusted adult
environments
Financial
security
Feeling safe
Amenities and
Strong connections to
Access to social services
family and community
networks
support
Our mental health and wellbeing
is just as important as our
physical health.
MAINTAINING
MENTAL
HEALTH AND Positive mental health and
WELL-BEING wellbeing enables you to
function well, have meaningful
social connections, positive self-
esteem and be better able to
cope with life's ups and downs.
STRESS
• Stress is a normal
response to situations
• It includes both
eustress (“good” stress)
and distress (“bad”
stress)
CDC, 2020
• Stress responses vary
based on the person
COPING WITH EVERYDAY STRESS
EVERYONE EXPERIENCES STRESS FROM TIME TO POSITIVE STRESS IS GENERALLY SHORT-TERM
TIME. IT IS COMMON IN DAILY LIFE; STRESS CAN AND CAN BE HEALTHY AS IT MOTIVATES AND
BE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE. HELPS PREPARE US FOR CHALLENGES IN LIFE.
POSITIVE STRESS IS GENERALLY SOMETHING
THAT WE FEEL WE CAN COPE WITH.
SELF-CARE Defined as:
“providing adequate
attention to one’s
own physical and
psychological
wellness
(Beauchamp & Childress, 2001)
Self - help
-involves learning
how to help
yourself and then
applying what
you've learned to
your life in order to
create lasting
positive change.
RECOGNIZE THE
PROBLEM
The most important point is to
recognise the source of the
negative stress.
This is not an admission of
weakness or inability to cope! It is
a way to identify the problem and
plan measures to overcome it.
RE-FRAMING Re-framing is a
technique to change the
way you look at things in
order to feel better
about them. There are
many ways to interpret
the same situation so
pick the one you like. Re-
framing does not change
the external reality, but
helps you view things in
a different light and less
stressfully.
POSITIVE THINKING
Forget Stress Focus on Learn Look Seek out
Forget Stress Focus on Learn Look for Seek out
powerless leaves us your from the opportu- the
ness, vulnerable strengths stress you nities positive -
dejection, to are under make a
despair, negative change.
failure suggestion
so focus
on
positives;
Be assertive
CHANGE Get organised
YOUR Ventilation
BEHAVIOUR
Humour
Diversion and distraction
THANK
YOU!
45
