Healthy Mind Healthy Body

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Healthy Mind Healthy Body

• Presented to Health Promoting Schools
• MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION CONFERENCE
• 
  Bianca A Lauria-Horner MD

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• What is
• MENTAL HEALTH?

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Mental Health

• Health of a persons
• feelings
• thoughts
• actions when faced with lifes situations
• Also includes
• how people handle stress
• see themselves and relate to others
• make decisions

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Health

• Mental health is part of the total health
• of an individual
• Just like having a healthy body, a healthy mind
  is just as important to feel well.

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Mental Illness

• Usually refers to mental health
• problems (problems with thoughts,
• feelings and behaviours which
• causes dysfunction in persons life
• at school
• at home
• in social situations
• at work.

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Background

• In any year 1 in 5 people are estimated to suffer
  from a mental illness
• 80 of us affected by mental illness (friends,
  family, co-worker)
• Can affect anyone regardless of sex, age, race,
  religion, ethnicity or socio-economic class.

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Background

• Depression is estimated to become the leading
  cause of disability by the year 2020. (WHO)
• Mental illness emerging as the leading source of
  worker disability.
• In the workplace, shift from manual skills to
  brain-based job functions coincides with the
  advent of brain-based disorders

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Background

• In Canada, mental disorders are estimated to cost
  over 51 billion (CAN) in 2003, not including
  the cost of prescription medications (Lim et al,
  2008)
• Canadian full-time workforce (10 million)
• workdays lost due to mental disorders amounts to
  35 million workdays
• depression and anxiety take people off the job
  more than any other medical condition.
• Full time workers with 10 to 15 years of service
  (prime working years) are uniquely vulnerable)

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How common is work stress in Canada?
Would you say most days at work were stressful?

• 30 identify significant stress at work
• They have twice the odds of having a major
  depression and/or anxiety disorder

of the working population
Canadian Community Health Survey 2000 Past 12
months, Adults gt 15 yrs, StatsCan Sept 2002
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Background

• Large starts in childhood
• 20 suffer from emotional problems
• 10 dysfunction at home, school or friends
• According to UNICEF, Canada has the third worst
  rate for suicides among those ages 15 to 19.
• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among
  Canadian adolescents, after accidents

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Background

• 75 do not receive adequate treatment
• 80 respond well to treatment

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Barrier to recognition/ help-seeking

• Lack of knowledge
• "mental disorders do not occur in childhood"
• "adolescents are expected to be 'troubled' or 'in
  turmoil"
• children themselves may not recognize when
  feelings and behaviors are not expected for their
  age group

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Stigma

• mental illness is not to be talked about or
  considered shameful
• 63 say embarrassment, fear, peer pressure as
  major barriers to seeking help
• In addition 38 of parents say they would be
  embarrassed to admit that their child had a
  mental illness

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Mental Illness

• Directly impacts children's ability to use and
  benefit from education.
• Unresolved disorders, can lead to
• learning problems
• decreased academic performance
• more truancy
• more dropout
• more special education referral

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Need for Prevention and Treatment

• Long term consequences can lead to
• alcohol abuse
• drug abuse
• trouble with the law
• risk for suicide
• extending in adulthood
• possibly lower economic status

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What is needed?Enhance knowledge and Dispelling
stigma

• introduce mental health concepts early
• early learning years, where opportunities
  multiple teachable moments.
• if we teach our children to be. comfortable with
  the notion of mental health, mental health
  discussions will be as common place as nutrition
  health or cardiovascular health

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First step Recognizing expected feelings and
behaviors

• feelings of
• sadness
• fear
• certain behaviors
• expected even if certain feelings dont feel so
  good

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Warning Signs

• recognize warning signs (know when to worry)
• key symptoms and signs
• length of time
• dysfunction routines at home, with friends or at
  school
• warning signs ? depression (T ? menigitis)

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Warning signs

• terminology should ..it seems as though this
  lasted longer than usual
• Do not counsel students about any concerns unless
  you possess specific skills
• main purpose is for children recognize warnings
  signs
• Teachers guide child to trusted adult or service

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Language

• Avoid using terms like bad or good. Feelings and
  behaviours should be referred to as expected or
  unexpected for a particular age group.
• Avoid inquiries that can be perceived as being
  judgmental or as an invasion in students home
• asking if child feels that parents are the cause.
  
• Myth parents are to blame

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Other important terminology

• Be sensitive to stigmatizing terminology in the
  classroom
• nervous break-down
• crazy
• mental

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Supplements

• Gradual introduction through the years to mental
  health
• Tied into the NS health education learning
  outcomes

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Supplements

• 2-3 new concepts per grade
• Divided into the following sections
• Teachers Corner
• Learning Outcomes
• Method
• Activities and Fact Sheets
• Assessment Strategies

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Little Jeremy

• Class activity

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Teachers summary

• MDD is only one type of depression
• Warning signs
• continuous sadness and/or a loss of interest as
  part of a total of at least five symptoms more
  days than not
• at least two weeks.
• interfere with ones proper functioning
• usual routines at home
• at school
• social situations.

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Major Depressive Disorder
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Method

• Distribute Activity Sheet 1 Little Jeremy
• Read story
• Pause for discussion
• Ask your students,
• Is it expected for Jeremy to feel this way?

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Method

• Continue reading the story. Pause at the second
  discussion point
• Ask your students,
• Is it expected for Jeremy to feel this way?

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Method

• Continue reading the story. Pause at the third
  discussion point.
• Introduce the term major depressive disorder
  (MDD).

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Continue exercise

• Name the symptoms which are consistent with
  warning signs of MDD

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Warning signs

• Signs and symptoms
• sadness is lasting most of the day for over a
  month
• always seemed to feel sick
• had no interest in playing with his friends or
  doing the things he usually liked to do
• felt safer when he was with his parents and found
  it hard to be separated from them
• refuses to go to school
• Marks are dropping
• had trouble sleeping, couldnt sleep like he used
  to
• Lost appetite
• worried that his parents may die
• NOTE TO TEACHER
• At times, a child can exhibit preoccupation with
  death rather
• than expressing that he or she wishes he or she
  were dead
• or wants to die.

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Length of time and dysfunction

• Lasting 4 weeks
• Causes dysfunction at home, school or with
  friends
• school marks are dropping
• he refuses to go to school
• Finds it difficult being separated from parents

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Distribute Fact sheet 1

• MDD is not a weakness
• Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a health
  disorder, just like when you are sick in your
  lungs or your heart, and it can affect anyone!
• Children who suffer from MDD are not crazy or
  mental. These descriptions are false they hurt
  feelings and make children feel worse.
• In short, they do not help!

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• What should you do if you had all those symptoms?

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(No Transcript)
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Resources

• school counsellor, youth worker
• family doctor
• IWK Mental Health Program (for children, under 19
  years old)
• 464-4110
• parents, professionals (i.e. teachers) or
  children youth themselves can (self) refer
  experiencing mental health difficulty

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NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL RESOURCES

• No charge, strictly confidential
• Kids Help Phone . . . . . . . . . .
  .1-800-668-6868 (24 hours/day, 7 days/week)
• Teen Time Hotline. . . . . . . . .
  .1-800-957-9995 (Daily including weekends
  Monday-Friday,
• 6 p.m.- 12 p.m.)
• Nova Scotia Youth Help Line . .1-800-420-8336
  (900 a.m.- 430 p.m.)

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PROVINCIAL RESOURCES

• Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team
• 1-888-429-8167
• (24 hours/day, 7 days/week) A Capital Health
  service which offers professional support for
  children, youth and adults experiencing a mental
  health crisis.
• phone contact to talk about the current
  situation, receive support and information and
  explore options

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PROVINCIAL RESOURCES

• Nova Scotia Community Services www.gov.ns.ca/coms

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METRO- HRM RESOURCES

• No charge, strictly confidential
• -Help Line Society . . . . . . . . . . . .(902)
  457-1900
• -Metro Help Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . (902)
  421-1188
• (12 pm to 8 pm) Offers information, referrals to
  services, lay counselling and crisis and suicide
  intervention
• Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team. . . 429-8167
• (24 hours/day, 7 days/week)
• Initial phone contact to talk about the current
  situation, receive support and information and
  explore options
• Crisis team may come to place where crisis is
  happening.

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Important Messages on children and adolescents
mental health

• Every child s mental health is important
• Many children have emotional and behaviour
  problems
• These problems and suffering are real, they can
  be serious.
• There is no reason to be ashamed