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Lesson 2 of 4
  • Year 8

Influences on mental health

I can explain what can influence my mental health in positive and negative ways.

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View unit
Lesson 2 of 4
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  • Year 8

Influences on mental health

I can explain what can influence my mental health in positive and negative ways.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Mental health can be influenced by lots of different factors.
  2. Biological factors, such as lack of sleep and exercise, can have a negative impact on mental health.
  3. Social factors, such as loneliness or a poor work-life balance, can increase the risk of mental health concerns.
  4. Psychological factors, such as discrimination and body image, can affect our ability to manage mental health.
  5. We can make choices to positively influence our mental health, such as good quality sleep and exercise.

Keywords

  • Biological - related to living things and life processes

  • Social - any activity in which you meet and spend time with other people

  • Psychological - anything related to the mind or emotions

Common misconception

We cannot do anything to protect our mental health.

There are lots of things that we can do to protect our mental health, such as exercising regularly, forming social connections and seeking early support.


To help you plan your year 8 RSHE (PSHE) lesson on: Influences on mental health, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage pupils to think of three positive choices (biological, social and psychological) that they might make to support their mental health.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of mental health issues

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the words to the correct definition.

Correct Answer:mental health,the health of our minds and emotions

the health of our minds and emotions

Correct Answer:listen,to hear and try to understand what someone is saying

to hear and try to understand what someone is saying

Correct Answer:emotion,a feeling caused by a situation, your body or people you're with

a feeling caused by a situation, your body or people you're with

Q2.
Mental health can be visualised as a .

Correct Answer: spectrum

Q3.
Good mental health is ...

the ability to be happy all the time
only feeling sad on certain days
Correct answer: being able to cope with normal, day-to-day stress
coping with problems alone

Q4.
Which of these statements about the stress bucket analogy are correct?

Everyone's bucket is the same size.
Correct answer: The bucket represents our capacity to cope with stress.
Each time we feel stressed, the bucket feels lighter.
Correct answer: Talking about our feelings helps the bucket to feel lighter.
Correct answer: If we don't talk about our feelings, the bucket could overflow.

Q5.
Ben is finding it tricky to manage his mental health. What should he do?

Ignore the feelings; they'll go away in time.
Correct answer: Talk to a trusted adult.
Bottle his feelings up because it's weak to talk about them.
Isolate himself from others until he feels better.

Q6.
Finish the sentence: No one should ...

talk about their mental health.
accept support for their mental health.
Correct answer: struggle with their mental health alone.
worry about their mental health.

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the following words with the correct definitions.

Correct Answer:biological,related to living things and life processes

related to living things and life processes

Correct Answer:social,any activity in which you meet and spend time with other people

any activity in which you meet and spend time with other people

Correct Answer:psychological,anything related to the mind or emotions

anything related to the mind or emotions

Q2.
Which of the following social factors might have a negative effect on mental health?

spending time with friends and family
Correct answer: feeling isolated and alone
a healthy work-life balance
Correct answer: a poor work-life balance

Q3.
Which of the following psychological factors might have a negative effect on mental health?

high resilience
high self-esteem
Correct answer: low resilience
Correct answer: low self-esteem

Q4.
Which of these statements are correct?

We cannot do anything to protect our mental health.
Correct answer: We can make positive choices to look after our mental health.
Looking after our mental health makes us less prepared to cope with stresses.
Correct answer: Looking after our mental health makes us more prepared to cope with stresses.

Q5.
Which of these could have a positive influence on mental health?

getting less than eight hours of sleep per night
Correct answer: getting regular, moderate exercise
eating lots of ultra-processed foods
Correct answer: connecting with friends and family
lots of screen time without breaks

Q6.
If someone is finding it difficult to manage their mental health, it's important to seek early .

Correct Answer: support, help, advice