Anxiety and OCD
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe what anxiety and OCD are, their common symptoms, and explain how to support someone and seek help.
Key learning points
- Most people experience anxiety at stressful times, but some people may experience persistent or excessive anxiety.
- Anxiety can affect physical, psychological and social wellbeing.
- Everyone can experience obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviours at times but OCD can have a big impact on your life.
- Self-care and support from family, friends and professionals, can help manage anxiety and OCD.
Keywords
Anxiety - a state of unease, worry or nervousness about uncertain outcomes, often accompanied by physical sensations
Symptom - a physical or mental feature that indicates a condition or disease
Self-care - the practice of taking action to preserve or improve a person's own health
Panic attack - a sudden and debilitating episode of fear and anxiety, often accompanied by physical symptoms, such as increased sweating and hyperventilating
OCD - stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; a mental health condition that features obsessive thoughts and compulsions
Common misconception
If you have OCD, it means you're just a really tidy person.
OCD is not about being tidy or liking things a certain way. It's about having no control over negative, intrusive, distressing thoughts which lead to compulsive behaviour(s).
Teacher tip
Before teaching this lesson, you should speak to your RSHE lead or DSL. You could also signpost to pastoral support in your setting.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following are common symptoms of stress?
Q2.When you are in a stressful situation, your body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and to help you react quickly and stay alert.
Q3.Which statement is not correct?
Q4.Match the words to the correct definitions.
your body and mind's response to challenging situations
methods used to reduce stress/anxiety by creating a feeling of calm
the process of organising and planning how to divide your time
a step-by-step guide to help manage time and reduce stress
Q5.Depression is ...
Q6.Symptoms of stress can be physical, emotional and ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the words to the correct definitions.
a state of unease, worry or nervousness about uncertain outcomes
a sudden and debilitating episode of fear and anxiety
taking action to preserve or improve a person's own health
a physical or mental feature that indicates a condition or disease
Q2.Most people experience anxiety in challenging situations; it is a natural response to ...
Q3.Which of the following is a common symptom of OCD?
Q4.What is a common impact of living with OCD?
Q5.Physical symptoms of a panic attack might include ...
Q6.Which of these statements are correct?
To help you plan your 10 RSHE (PSHE) lesson on: Anxiety and OCD, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 RSHE (PSHE) lesson on: Anxiety and OCD, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 RSHE (PSHE) lessons from the What are common types of mental health conditions? unit, dive into the full secondary RSHE (PSHE) curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.