Mental Health

Topic
Stage	Stage 5
Strand:	Strand 3: Individual and Community Health
Skill Outcome:	Communicating Decision Making
Syllabus Learning Outcomes :	Outcome 5.6 A student analyses attitudes, behaviours and consequences related to health issues affecting young people.
Students Learn About:	• mental health understanding mental health maintaining connections help-seeking behaviours loss and grief: helpful and unhelpful strategies reaching out: helping yourself and helping others
Students Learn To:	challenge negative community perceptions of mental health and identify reasons why these have developed suggest positive strategies to deal with loss and grief
Rationale:	Mental is an issue that is constantly brought up in the community and through media. It is also a factor in contemporary society due to the stress people constantly are put under. I believe it is important for students to gain an understanding and empathy for those with mental health issues. As well as this it is important for student to build on skills to create a positive mental wellbeing.
KLA Integration:	Technology (ICT, blog entries and web browsing) English (blog responses)
Diverse Learner	This task has three stages to target different learners: The Quiz to target those of low level learning. The Small group expert blog to target those who work best whilst learning online and through peers The reading of Andrew Johns' story and comic strip to target those who learn off real life stories and those who learn best whilst actively doing activities.
Acedemic literacy	Information on 'Head Room' a South Australian Government website

 

Task:

1. Your first task is to long onto the website http://www.headroom.net.au/lounge/quiz/lounge_quiz.html. You are to complete the short multiple choice quiz aimed at alleviating negative myths on mental health.
   
2. Once you have completed this you are to make a comment (at the bottom of this blog) of how well you went and if you were uncertain of any of the questions/answers.
   
3. The next task you will be required to take part in a small group expert activity. In order to do this I have set up a Blog www.healthstudentresponses.blogspot.com. I will email you all individually the log on details in order to make your posts.
   
4. You are to log onto the website http://www.headroom.net.au/lounge/f4t_lounge_fr.html. From here you are to browse the mental health topics in the drop down tab.
   
5. Those students with last names starting for A-F are to summarise and submit a blog post on 'Relationships' and 'Being assertive'.
   
6. Those students with last names starting for G-L are to summarise and submit a blog post on 'School' and 'Goal seeking'.
   
7. Those students with last names starting for M-R are to summarise and submit a blog post on 'Peer Pressure' and 'Optimism'.
   
8. Those students with last names starting for S-V are to summarise and submit a blog post on 'Stress' and 'Self Talk'.
   
9. Those students with last names starting for W-Z are to summarise and submit a blog post on 'Gossip' and 'Problem solving'.
   
10. Once you have done this you will be required to comment on 2 other students' responses (by next week).
    
11. In an attempt to alleviate negative perceptions of mental health, I would like you to brainstorm those celebrities or people you know that suffer from a mental disorder. If you are finding it hard to come up with people, think that maybe there is a reason for this? Do you think many people do not come out in public about having a mental health disorder?
    
12. Your task now is to browse the Daily Telegraphs article on Andrew Johns http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,24301663-5001021,00.html.
    
13. Once you have read this you are to create a short comic strip (tv advertisement) challenging perceptions of mental health and creating awareness for young people.
    
14. You may also post the comic strip on the blog.
    

    
     

    Reference list
    

 

Headroom. (2002) The Lounge Quiz. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from http://www.headroom.net.au/lounge/quiz/lounge_quiz.html.

Headroom. (2002) Food for thought. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from http://www.headroom.net.au/lounge/f4t_lounge_fr.html

The Daily Telegraph. (2008) Living with the enemy of depression. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,24301663-5001021,00.html.