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Bacs presentation
This document provides information on supporting children and young people's mental health. It discusses maintaining confidentiality and equality. The aims are to build resilience, identify strategies to help with mental health issues, and introduce further sessions. Risk factors for mental health problems include family, child, and community factors, while resilience comes from supportive relationships, skills, and community resources. Conditions like anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity are discussed as well as what helps such as listening, understanding, skill-building, and maintaining appropriate boundaries.
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Bacs presentation
- 2. Learning Together – Understandand respect others Maintain confidentiality Taking equality and diversity seriously Commitment to learning Time out
- 3. Sessions Aims • Togive an overview of mental health, in the context of risk and resilience factors within school • To build a living brain! • To identify practical strategies for helping to build resilience within school, and to help children to overcome mental health distress • To introduce further sessions on supporting children and addressing mental health in school
- 4. Exercise Talk to personsitting next to you and briefly describe a child who you know or who you believe is leading a emotionally, mentally and healthy life. What are the key characteristics of this child? Please display these as thoughts or behavior's on the sheet provided.
- 5. Definition of MentalHealth Mental health is …having the capacities of: The ability to develop psychologically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually The ability to initiate, develop and sustain mutually satisfying personal relationships The ability to become aware of others and empathize with them The ability to use psychological distress as a developmental process. HAS, 1995)
- 6. Another Definition ofMental Health When looking at mental health we need to take into account emotional well- being; happiness; integrity & creativity; the capacity to cope with stress and difficulty. Mental health, in effect refers to the capacity to live a full, productive life as well as the flexibility to deal with its ups and downs. In children and young people it is especially about the capacity to learn, enjoy friendships, to meet challenges, to develop talents and capabilities. (YoungMinds, 1996)
- 7. Young People’s Viewof Mental Health The young people identified five main factors as contributing to mental health: Having people to talk to Personal achievement, and Feeling good about yourself Pets, presents and having fun . Friends and family were seen as making young people feel secure, supported and wanted and conversely as preventing feelings of isolation. (Armstrong, Hill &Secker, 1998)
- 8. The Continuum Mental MentalMental Mental health distress health illness difficulty Emotional Emotional social Wellbeing and behavioural difficulties
- 9. Classification of mentaldisorders Emotional disorders phobias, anxiety states and depression Conduct disorders stealing, defiance, fire setting, aggression, & anti social behaviour Hyperkinetic disorders disturbance of activity and attention Developmental disorders (general, pervasive or specific) For example; learning disability, ASD, delay in acquiring certain skills e.g. speech and language
- 10. Classification of mentaldisorders Eating disorders pre-school eating problems, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa Habit disorders tics, sleeping problems, soiling Post traumatic syndromes Effects of witnessing or experiencing traumatic event(s) e.g. disaster or abuse Somatic disorders chronic fatigue syndrome Psychotic disorders schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, psychoses including drug induced psychoses
- 11. Prevalence One child infive (around 20%) display a mental health problem. 10% of children have diagnosable disorder Greater in the upper age group Level increasing over time (for some disorders) Differences across ethnic groups Differences between family types Variations with household income
- 12. Prevalence of anymental disorder by age and sex
- 13. Prevalence of emotionaldisorders by age and sex
- 14. Prevalence of conductdisorders by age and sex
- 15. Prevalence of hyperkineticdisorders by age and sex
- 16. Prevalence of anymental disorder by gross weekly household income
- 17. Build a LivingBrain • This activity is great for demonstrating to children and young people how their brains function at times of stress • It’s a powerful reminder that they can take ownership of their brain power and they can learn adaptive ways of responding to fight or flight situations
- 19. Risk Factors inthe Family • Overt parental conflict • Family breakdown • Inconsistent or unclear discipline • Hostile or rejecting relationships • Failure to adapt to a child’s changing needs • Physical, sexual or emotional abuse • Parental psychiatric illness • Parental criminality, • Alcoholism or personality disorder • Death and loss – including loss of friendship
- 20. Risk and ResilienceFactors • Risk factors can occur within the community – including the school, the family and the child, and decrease a child’s life chances • Resilience factors can occur within the community including the school, the family and the child, and increase a child’s life chances
- 21. Risk Factors inthe Child • Specific learning difficulties • Communication difficulties • Specific development delay • Difficult temperament • Physical illness especially if chronic and or • neurological • Academic failure • Low self-esteem • Peer relationship problem
- 22. Risk Factors inthe Community • Social-economic • Disadvantage • Housing problems • Disaster • Discrimination • Other significant life events • Neighborhood conflict • Deviant peer group
- 23. Resilience Factors inthe Child • Secure early relationships • Being female • Good intellectual ability • Easy temperament when an infant • Positive attitude, problem solving approach • Good communications skills • Planner, belief in control • Humour • Religious faith • Capacity to reflect • High self-esteem & self confidence • Positive social influence including close peer relationships
- 24. Resilience Factors: inthe Community • Wider supportive network • Good housing • High standards of living • High morale school with positive policies for behaviour, attitudes and anti-bullying • Schools with strong academic and non- academic opportunities • Range of positive sport/ leisure activities
- 25. Resilience Factors: inthe Family • At least one close and affectionate parent-child relationship • Clear, firm and consistent discipline • Support for education • Supportive long term relationship/absence of severe discord
- 26. The Resilience Rucksack •This resilience rucksack contains symbols of ordinary magic which represent schools as therapeutic communities
- 27. Map • The longestjourney starts with a single step • Help and model planning a day – it develops a cerebral response as it helps to work out where the dangers are and how to manage them • It gives a sense of purpose
- 28. Trainers • Exercise reducescortisol • It provides a channel for energy and an avenue for success • It can teach perseverance • It can be great for building alliances with hard to reach kids
- 29. Professor Dumbledore –the teacher • Recent research shows that good teaching and good learning is one of the powerful tools in promoting mental health • Do what you do well and the pupil benefits
- 30. Rope • We needto link with others • The need to belong is a fundamental human need • Exclusion produces a sensation in the brain similar to that of physical pain
- 31. An anchor • Weneed a secure base from which to explore the world • Vulnerable children need to know where they turn to in times of crisis • Where can kids feel safe in school?
- 32. A chill outCD • We need to learn to relax • It needs to be programmed into our brains as well as our hectic lives • For those with heightened sense of danger they need explicit exercises to teach self regulation and self calming
- 33. • You can’tchange children’s lives but you can help them to cope with the life they have
- 34. Snakes and ladders-going down…….. • In groups identify some of the factors within your school which may contribute to a downward spiral. These could relate to your own wellbeing as well as that of the pupils – it could relate to institutional practice
- 35. Snakes and Ladders– going up…….. • In groups, identify some of the factors within your school and within your dealings with young people which promote resilience
- 36. What helps -Anxiety Prevention - A number of causes of general anxiety in childhood can be prevented by sensible handling For illogical fears that are not quite phobias, simple explanations and reassurance will help many children gradually get over them Detailed interview with child and family Look to other agencies for interventions eg Educational Psychologists or Education Socal Workers if anxiety is about school, social workers if about home life
- 37. What helps -Anxiety Talking to or helping children and parents to understand how the problem has developed Specific fears are usually treated by helping children confront their fear in a way and at a pace that they can manage eg carefully planning a gradual return to school if the anxiety is school based Teaching relaxation Help children talk through their anxieties using drawing or play
- 38. What helps -Depression About 10% of children and young people with depression recover spontaneously within 3 months Be able to determine, recognise and assess those with depression Ensure timely information is available on the nature, cause and treatment in all local languages (NICE, 2005) Ask sympathetically how they are and listen to the response Encourage them to remain active Praise all efforts (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1999; YoungMinds)
- 39. What helps -Hyperactivity Learn about hyperactivity and what it means Give structure and encourage regular routine Give clear instructions, sufficient time to complete tasks Provide a variety of physical activity Reward any achievements (HASCAS, 2004)
- 40. What helps –conduct disorder All approaches are grounded in respect for the child Empathy, attention and involvement, play, problem-solving, listening, talking. Praise any achievements and reward them Encouragement Clear limits and consistent rules with consistent follow-through Ignore negative behavior, distract from negative behavior (positive verbal redirection) and use re-engagement strategies Remind of expected behavior and warn of consequences Use consequences
- 41. What else helpschildren’s and young people’s mental health? Adults being self-aware Feeling helpless/angry/rejected Learn from your experiences Respect their view even if an alternative adult view is presented Understanding Them Their peer group Their developmental stage/age Their life circumstances
- 42. What else helpschildren’s and young people’s mental health? Listening Actively Open questions Warmth and empathy Take account of cultural issues Never promise to keep a secret Child protection procedures Emotional language
- 43. What else helpschildren’s and young people’s mental health? Boundaries Knowing what they can and can’t do Be consistent Expect challenge Skill Development Enabling children and young people to improve their mastery of stressful situations
Editor's Notes
- #9 Resources for this activity a pack with an A4 continuum and five case study vignettes for each group ( there are 30 copies of this in the mental health cupboard) Participants read the case studies and then decide where on the continuum each of the young people should be placed. I have amended the case studies. Teaching point – mental health distress is a normal response to upsetting life events – we all benefit from support and encouragement to learn how to manage difficult events Our ability to manage difficult events is an interaction of our resilience( which is a learned aspect of our personalities), the support we have available and the extent to which we have other complicating factors in our lives. When we experience mental heath distress to the extent that it impairs our functioning over a prolonged period of time, and affects our ability to manage the day to day challenges of life then we have a mental health difficulty – if mental health difficulties go unaddressed then they could develop into a mental health illness. Teaching points : Mental Health is not a fixed personality trait – although there may be aspects of genetic heritage Our mental health is an interaction of life events, our personality, and the support we receive to help us to deal with slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune Some children will be much more vulnerable because of their life events – others because of within child factors – sometimes it may be school that has an adverse impact on a child’ mental health Some children will overcome difficult life events and will move from mental health difficult to mental health again – others – if more negative events occur or if they don’t get help, acknowledgement and support, will remain locked into mental health difficulty – for some people this permanently afected lives – not able to apply themselves purposefully, not able to form relationships , dependent upon maladaptive coping strategies which control their lives. Others may develop a mental illness – anxiety becomes agoraphobia – difficulty with relationships and self regulation becomes psychopathology- disordered attachments may become borderline personality disorder
- #18 Ask participants to build a living brain using the cards Expalin that CYP whose lives are uncertain – who deal with a high degree of change or who have insecure attachments or who are vulnerable for specific reasons are much more likely to
- #22 You can read these at leisure I don’t intend to read these outloud – they are self explanatory and you know them. It’s why nursery school teachers often know which are the kids who will turn out to have difficulties by their teenage years. However, conversely we don’t want to label kids – we can pick out and build on their resilience possibilities
- #27 Actually as we go through it I think some of you will find that it’s helpful to think about your own resilience and the things you can do to manage your own mental health and to build your resilience Ask volunteers to come out to the front and pull something out of the resilience rucksack. Ask other volunteers to explain why the item might help to build resilience
- #28 Building in strcuture and predictability helps children to feel secure. Lots of our kids needs to be taught this as they don’t have anyway of learning in chaotic homelives. We can help them to think about short and long term goals – we can help them to do some strategic planning. Breaking down big challenges into small ones is a way of doing this e.g if you want a kid to stop abusing everyone – set a target of greeting 2 members of staff politely each day! Teach kids how to use their plans it’s not an innate skills – and do it at the begniing of a lesson so it has value and time – not in a rush at the end Model planning and thinking aloud – model how to negotiate challenges – whether it’s dealing with a learning challenge or a social challenge
- #30 Children need to learn and need to succeed. Providing mastery learning experiences where the child experiences success is one of the cornerstones of building self efficacy. Self efficacy relates to our beliefs about our ability to manage the challenges and opportunities that life throws at us – it also gives us the chance to achieve some positive outcomes in a difficult world. You may not know how to protect your mum from being battered by your stepdad but being able to start and finish an activity – and to achieve recognition for it builds a sense of competence We know that children are unlikely to tell us if something is wrong with direct questions – but if we show we notice and care then some important information might come out. For example – saying to a child that you have noticed she hasn’t handed her homework in for two weeks might lead her to explain she is too busy looking after younger siblings because mum has been sectioned – Asking about being very withdrawn from groups of kids she used to work well with might indicate that she has withdrawn from all social contact. Saying you have noticed a boy looks tired might mean you find out he hasn’t been sleeping because he is worried about his Dad in Afghanistan –or in prison. You are giving postive attention – showing care and concern. This gives you a chance to focus on the school work which can be a welcome relief but also to acknowledge if they have too much to bear – you can suggest that you refer on to the skilled helping team
- #32 Talk about attachment – healing relationships with adults who know them and show they care about them are powerful. At times of change this is especially important – Some children don’t have the emotional resources to form an attachment – they have never had a safe figure so the first task for them is to learn to trust e.g. AN who was slowly building a relationship with one of your wonderful TAs Make it safe – judge how far to go At a Place to Be, the charity run by Camilla Bhatti……….. they use ‘corridor counselling’ because the CYP are too fragile and suspsicious to be able to bear the intensity of a one to one relationship Transitional objects which an adult gives a child can be a tangible reminder that you are ‘holding them in mind.’
- #35 Have a word of warning here that we should be respecting each other – that is the fundamental prerequisite of an emotionally healthy environment – Try to get people thinking in terms of their own actions this is personal policy not school policy – it could include things like knowing everyone’s name – not writing homework up at the last minute so the kids who struggle have no cahnce of getting it down – it could be about not gibing a label to a child and never looking beyond – saying things to kids that confirm a bad reputation – only noticing the negative – talking but not listening
- #36 It would be great if you are able to recognise your own good practice and that of your colleagues – recognising it and making it explicit helps to build on it and embed it. It helps weave it into the core fabric of the school. Try again to get people thinking about what they do themselves to make a difference Sharing a joke – helping children to achieve – giving them a chance to learn something new – knowing their name – making sure you say something positive about each kid at least oce a week – notice small things – a new hat – concentrating for one sec – a good answer-