Lesson video

Hello, my name is Miss Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called "Fluctuating Mental Health," and it fits into the unit "Mental Health: How Might My Mental Health Change?" During this lesson, we are going to be talking about mental health issues and some sensitive content, so for this lesson we require you to have an adult with you.

If at any point you do feel worried or uncomfortable, it's really important that you stop the lesson and that you speak to an adult that you trust.

Okay, let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson you'll be able to explain what influences mental health over a lifetime.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These helps make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that, "We need to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should always listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond.

When we disagree with someone else, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves." Next, Andeep says that, "We need to respect each other's privacy.

It's okay to discuss any examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves." If we want to share a story or an experience, we can refer to someone as "my friend." This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

Next, Izzy says that, "We can choose our level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion if they don't feel comfortable.

We should never put anyone on the spot." And finally, Jacob says that, "We need to not have any judgment.

We can explore any beliefs and misunderstandings that we have about a topic without fear of being judged by others." We are now going to have a look at the keywords for today's lesson.

Our first keyword is mental health, and this is the health of our minds and emotions.

And substance abuse.

This is using drugs or alcohol harmfully, hurting health, relationships, or daily life in ways hard to control.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called "What Can Mental Health look Like Over a Lifetime?" And our second learning cycle is called "What Might Affect Mental Health During a Lifetime?" Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, "What Can Mental Health Look Like Over a Lifetime?" All of us have mental health.

Dr.

Elsie says that, "Mental health is how well we feel emotionally, psychologically, and socially too.

Our mental health can influence the ways in which we think, feel, or behave.

It's important that we look after our mental health in the same way that we would look after our physical health." Mental health can be visualized as a spectrum, and where people sit on that spectrum at any given time can vary from one person to the next.

We can see the spectrum as something like this.

Healthy, managing, struggling, or suffering.

A person's mental health or the support that they might need does not always stay the same.

It can fluctuate, which means change continuously, both day to day and across their lifetime.

So for someone whose mental health is in the healthy or managing range, they should be able to support themselves with self-help strategies and with a good support network.

So for example, having trusted adults to talk to, or friends and family too.

For someone who sat in the struggling or suffering part of the spectrum, this is when they might need professional support to get better and to manage their symptoms and how they're feeling.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which of these statements are true? A, only some people have mental health.

B, mental health influences the ways that we think, feel, or behave.

C, mental health is the same for everyone.

Or D, a person's mental health can fluctuate across their lifetime.

What do you think, which of these statements are true? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and D are correct.

It is true that mental health influences the ways that we think, feel, or behave.

And it's true that a person's mental health can fluctuate across their lifetime.

It's not true that only some people have mental health.

Everyone has mental health, and this can look different for everyone.

Well done if you said the same thing.

So what does good mental health wellbeing look like? Dr.

Elsie tells us that when we have good mental health wellbeing, we might feel calm and content inside.

We're able to cope with the normal stresses that life brings, and we can still lead fulfilling and productive lives.

Even if we have good mental health wellbeing, we can still experience a range of emotions, and not all of these are positive, so we might feel really good because we're excited about our new friendship.

Then we might feel nervous about exams. Then we could feel proud of winning a sports match.

We could feel upset because we've had a falling out with a friend.

We could feel relaxed when term finishes.

And then we could feel anxious about a new term.

Even if someone has good mental health wellbeing, experiencing all of these emotions is still perfectly normal.

Ethan says, "Although my mental health is pretty good, I do feel a bit low sometimes.

I really don't like change, so I get a bit down when I start a new school year or when things don't go to plan." Chloe says that, "I have good mental health, but my emotions often change throughout the day.

When I'm tired, I start to feel really irritable and snappy.

I cheer up quickly once I've had a chance to stop and rest." Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? People with good mental health wellbeing do not experience a range of emotions.

What do you think, is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that even if we have good mental health wellbeing, we can still experience a range and experience fluctuation of emotions.

This means that throughout the day or throughout time, we can experience some tricky emotions too, for example, feeling sad, nervous, or angry.

These are all perfectly normal.

Well done if you said the same thing.

I'd now like you to put your learning from this learning cycle into practice.

I'd like you to write examples of scenarios that may cause emotions to fluctuate on the image below.

Pause the video and we'll go through a model answer in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what your completed image may look like.

You might have said that someone could feel happy because they've received a compliment.

They might feel irritable from being too tired.

They might feel content after eating dinner or stressed about homework.

They could feel excited to see friends or sad at receiving an unkind message online.

There could have been lots of different answers to this one, so well done if your answers were anything like this.

It's now time to move on to our second learning cycle, and well done for your hard work so far.

This learning cycle is called "What Might Affect Mental Health During a Lifetime." There are lots of different things that can affect mental health.

Dr.

Elsie says that, "Mental health can be affected by a variety of factors in life.

It really helps to understand what some of these are so that we're better able to look after our own mental health, and each other's mental health too." One thing that can affect our mental health during our lifetime is our circumstances.

This is what we're going through, and big life events that can naturally have an impact on our mental health.

Jack wants to share his story.

Jack says, "I lost my grandma a few months ago.

For a long while, I felt sad, tearful, and anxious.

I didn't want to see any of my friends, I lost interest in my hobbies, and I just wanted to spend time alone in my room.

My emotions were really up and down more than usual, and I really struggled to cope with the pressures of school." In this situation, Jack's circumstances, so his grandma passing away, has led to an impact on his mental health.

Our circumstances can also include the economic pressures that we might be facing, and this person wants to share their story.

"In recent years, my partner and I have noticed our mental health has been impacted as we come to terms with the cost of living crisis.

Constantly trying to earn enough money to pay the bills and then dealing with unexpected costs, for instance, our car breaking down, leaves us feeling stressed and anxious." This shows how our economic situation can impact our mental health too.

We're now going to talk a little bit about substance abuse and addiction, and how this can affect our mental health.

Dr.

Elsie says that, "Substance abuse refers to the misuse of alcohol or drugs to the extent where a person is then at risk of harm or becomes dependent on them.

Substance abuse could also lead to addiction, leading to a lack of control, overusing, or doing something to the point that it becomes dangerous." This person wants to share their story.

"After I lost my job, I started drinking more alcohol because I was so down and I thought it would help me to forget about my financial worries.

In the long term I ended up losing money and it caused the breakdown of a relationship.

I began to struggle with my mental health.

I was anxious all the time, and I started to feel depressed." This person wants to share their story too.

"My mental health became poor after my parents separated.

I just didn't see it coming, and the whole situation made me feel angry, rejected, and lost.

Rather than working with my emotions, I started taking drugs to numb them.

Sadly, the substance abuse made my mental health even worse, and it was only when I got support from professionals that I was able to process things in a healthier way." Dr.

Elsie says that, "People with poor mental health may turn to substance abuse as a way of coping with their worries.

However, substance abuse can also lead to an increased risk of mental health concerns.

If you or anyone else that you know is struggling with substance abuse, it's really important to talk to a trusted adult." This could be a parent or carer.

It could be a teacher or another school staff member, but it should be an adult that you know offline that you trust to keep you safe.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

I'd like you to complete the missing words below.

"Mental health can be affected by variety of factors in life, such as our blank and blank." Can you complete the missing words? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the missing words were "circumstances" and "substance abuse." Our completed sentence should now be, "Mental health can be affected by a variety of factors in life, such as our circumstances and substance abuse." Well done if you got this right.

We are now going to talk a little bit about online content and how this can affect our mental health too.

Dr.

Elsie says that, "Going online can be a fun and enjoyable way to relax.

Gaming or using social media can help us to feel connected to others and we can find a wealth of information online about the things that interest us." All of these things can have a positive impact on our mental health if we're using them in a healthy way.

Dr.

Elsie says, "However, that spending lots of time online can have long lasting and potentially negative effects on our mental health.

We might begin to feel pressured to check our social media accounts regularly.

Our self-esteem could become low through constant comparisons to others online, and excessive screen time can also impact our physical health in a negative way." Jack wants to share his story.

"When I was struggling with my mental health, I used to spend hours alone playing games online to escape how I was feeling.

By spending all my free time online, I stopped exercising and I wasn't sleeping enough.

It wasn't long before I started to feel sluggish and even more anxious." Chloe wants to share her story.

Chloe says, "I used to be on social media all the time.

It was the first thing I'd look at when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I looked at before going to bed at night.

I used to look at other people's profiles and constantly compare myself.

I felt like their lives were more exciting or that they dressed better than me.

My mom advised me to put time limits on apps, which really helped my mental health to improve." Dr.

Elsie says that, "Sadly, some online content may also promote mentally harmful behavior.

Websites or chat forums may spread misinformation disguised as advice from health professionals.

They may also include detailed personal accounts which could further harm their reader's mental health." Dr.

Elsie says that, "Whatever the reason for mental health concerns, it's never a person's fault and no one has to struggle on their own.

It's important that we talk to a trusted adult or support services if we're worried about our or someone else's mental health.

Talking to someone can help us to develop self-care strategies or seek further professional support if necessary." For example, from a GP or a mental health charity.

Dr.

Elsie says that, "Increasingly AI, so this is artificial intelligence, chat bots are being used to support people's mental health too.

These are often available 24/7 and they can provide guidance and resources.

However, it's important to remember that these are not intended to replace human therapists, and we must be mindful about how our data and responses could be used." Sometimes it might feel like we're not being listened to.

If we are not heard straight away by someone that we trust, it's important to keep asking for support until someone else listens and helps us.

So, in these situations it's important to keep asking and keep asking different people until we're listened to and until we get the support that we need.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Spending too much time online could A, impact our physical health.

B, improve our self-esteem.

Or C, have long-lasting effects on mental health.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that A and C are correct.

Spending too much time online could impact our physical health, and it can have long-lasting effects on our mental health too.

Spending too much time online can actually have a negative impact on our self-esteem as opposed to improving our self-esteem.

But remember that everyone is different and we are able to do fun things online and it can positively impact our self-esteem and our mental health if we use it in a healthy way.

Well done if you got this right.

We're now moving on to our final practice task, and well done for your hard work so far.

I'd like you to write two paragraphs that answer the following questions.

The first question is what factors might affect mental health? And the second question is, how can we seek support for mental health? Pause the video and we'll go through some model answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's take a look and see what answers you may have come up with.

You might have said that, "There are a variety of factors that might affect mental health.

The things that we're going through in big life events, so our circumstances, can have an impact, for example, the loss of a loved one or economic pressures.

People with poor mental health may turn to substance abuse as a way of coping with their worries.

Equally, substance abuse can also lead to an increased risk of mental health concerns." Your answer might have continued with something like, "Spending lots of time online can also have long-lasting effects on our mental health.

For instance, we may feel pressure to check our social media accounts regularly, our self-esteem can become low through constant comparisons to others online, and excessive screen time can impact our physical health too.

Moreover, some online content may also promote harmful behavior.

It's important that we talk to a trusted adult or support services if we're worried about our or someone else's mental health, and we must keep asking for help until we're heard." While done if your answers were anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that we all have mental health.

Each person's mental health can fluctuate both day-to-day and across their lifetime.

The type of support that they might need can also change over time.

Even if we have good mental health, we can still experience a range of emotions.

Mental health can be affected by variety of factors such as our circumstances, so this is the things going on around us, substance abuse, and online content too.

Mental health concerns are never a person's fault, and it's important to seek help from a trusted adult or support services.

If you are not heard straight away, it's important to keep asking until you're listened to.

In today's lesson you might have found that you've got some worries or some questions, and if you do, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources that are on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work today.

I hope to see you in another lesson soon.