LHS cares, one of our highshools most involved clubs, hosted a 3 day program on teen Mental Health Awarness. 

Today, mental health is one of the upcoming most talked about and concerning issues of our youth. Learning about mental health is a crucial and a necassary life skill to have in my opinion. So, when the opportunity to take a course on first aid of teen mental health arose, I couldn’t pass it up.

Day one:

Starting off the class, Karen Carieira introduced herself and shared her story. Mrs. Carieria was the one running the course. She talked about her personal experience with mental health and how it has affected her. Turns out, Mrs. Cariera had a son that went to LHS, who, in 2018, actually committed suicide after struggling with his mental health. “Life is a hard place to be sometimes,” she explained, which I think can not be more true. Her first-hand experience with mental issues is what led Karen to begin spreading awareness about tMHFA in the first place. 

The topics for the first day were, in general, “What are some mental health challenges?” and “What is appropriate help?” 

We discussed some common mental illnesses that can occur in teens, such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, BPD, and so on. To recognize these illnesses, Mrs. Carreira showed us a few drawings. She then asked us to analyze how the pictures might represent a mental illness and what it could feel like to go through a challenge. We learned that drawing, music, writing, and any kind of art are common and helpful ways to express how you’re feeling.

As we were taught, there are also ranges to mental health. “Mental health isn’t exactly good or bad. Having good mental health doesn’t mean being happy all the time.” As Mrs. Carreira puts it. What you’re feeling can range all the way from happy and stable to panicked and stressed – and that’s okay. What’s important is what you do with your feelings

and stress. 

The last point we discussed during this class was the ability to change your thinking. Mrs. Carreira calls it “the power of choice.” Cicling back to pictures again, we were shown an image example of a guy who is thinking negatively about himself. He uses self-deprecating language in the picture and, though there wasn’t much context, we could see him thinking something like “they don’t like me.” In the next picture, Mrs. Carreira showed us how to reform those negative thoughts. Instead of thinking “they don’t like me,” choose to think “they don’t know me.” By changing your words, you are putting a more positive spin on your thoughts which can eventually stop the inevitable spiral of negative thinking.

In the end, the main takeaway from this day was that mental health is normal, and should be normalized. Every single person struggles with mental health in some way. You are never alone, and there is always someone you can talk to.

Day two:

On the second day of the program, Mrs. Carreira started the class off by requesting that every single person in the room close their eyes and focus on breathing for just 30 seconds. Mr. Hokanson then explained that taking a moment to ground yourself and breathe is one of the best calming tactics, and one of the most important things you can do for yourself.

Getting into the actual content of the class, we focused on discussing the stigma around  mental health and what that affect for the learning process.

When you think of mental health, there are definitely some negative words that can come to mind that may not always be true. That is what stigma is—a negative attitude towards, in this case mental health. Mrs. Carreira had us write down two words we thought of when when we heard the words ‘mental health.’ Some examples were taboo, challenging, ilness, sruggle, and stressful. While some of those words may not exactly be negative, they still creating a stigma around mental healh. 

Whats important to know about stigma is that it’s not always true. How you may describe someone or their feelings might not be the same way they think about their feelings. “People arent their challenges,” Mrs. Carreira explained. Looking past the stigma and mental health of someone—it’s important to see them for who they really are.

Some ways we were taught to help decrease the stigma around mental health are to openly talk about issues, challenge false claims and educate yourselves about what’s right, offer your support to anyone you know who maybe facing challenges, and, lastly, to use respectful and accurate language when you are talking about a mental health issue.

After finishing up our lesson on stigma and judgemnt, Mrs. Carreira got into our next point, which was recovery from mental issues and who you can go to for help. 

She started off by making one point very clear- that resilience and recovery is possible. 

Then, she showed us a quick video on how to locate professional help. Some good options were a trusted adult, a teacher, therpaist, close friend, or a school guidance councler. After the video, Mrs Carreira explained the importance of knowing who you can persosnally go to with a mental health problem. She had us write down our known resources. 

We also joted down some activites that are useful to help recover from a tough situation—day to day exercises like journaling, talking with friends, playing a sport, or anything that make you comfortable.

With recovery also comes self care, as we were taught. Self care come in many shapes and sizes, but the main points ffor recovery are to nourish and move your body, limit your time, recharge, give back, get creative, and disconnect and reconnect. “We are a social species,” said Mr. Hokanson. By putting yourself out there and taking these methods seriously, you are already on the path to recovery. 

The last point we talked about was a little bit more of a heavy topic—suicide and suicide awarness itself.

Mrs. Carreira introduced the topic by showing us a few more pictures and having us share out some thoughts on them, similar to what we did on the first day. Then we watched a video on suicide prevention and awarness that showed some tips on how to recognize when someone is having suicidal thoughts, and how you can help them.

Mrs. Carreira then explained the ‘famous’ 5 step plan on how to help: look for signs, ask someone how they are, listen carefully to their problems, help them contact a trusted resource, and remember and prioritize your friendship. By following these 5 steps, you can help save someones life.

Day three:

On the third and final day of the teen Mental Health First Aid course, we reviewed the information we talked about the previous days, and took a look at some real life scenarios of challenges in mental health.

We discussed types of crisis’s and challenges someone could be facing. Some examples were panic attacks, self harm, bullying, traumatic events, and potential violence. After briefly explaining the challenges, Mrs. Carreira tied in the 5 step plan and showed us what to do in each situation. As we reached step 4 on the first type of crisis, contact a trusted resource, Mrs. Carreira told us to “recognize that getting help is really important.” If you notice something going on with a friend, its better to say something before its too late—like the popular quote “eee something say something.

Then we got into the scenario work. First, we read a story about someone dealing with a mental health problem.

We picked out some warning signs that person was showing, and we  brainstormed some ways to subtly ask that person how they are doing. Mrs. Carreira mentioned that having courage at this stage is very important. We were given some basic ways to ask about and reassure someone, like saying greeting someone and following up with a “you’re not alone in this,” or “do you want to talk about it?” The three key steps are tto ask, listen, and validate.

Then we connected the last few steps of our plan, connecting them to a trusted resource and remembering your friendship. Some ways to connect someone are to reference them to a school counceler, a doctor, or an adult. You can even take them in and make them apart of your friend group, giving them some people to rely on—which also connects to remembering your friendship.

By the time we finished up scenarios, the time to end the course had already come. 

Mrs. Carreira asked us some final review questions, and ultimately sent us off as oficial certified teen Mental Health First Aiders. Woohoo!