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Shelter in Place Modules 

Mental Health: The Brain & Disorders

Throughout this module, you will watch videos, participate in activities, and respond to discussion questions and a case study as if you were actually at The Spot for a 1-1.5 hour Peer Leaders session. By the end of the module, please email discussion questions responses and your case study response (all inside the purple rounded squares) with the subject line "PL MH" to Danielle at youthprogramahs@gmail.com.

INTRO TO MENTAL HEALTH

What is Mental Health?

Mental health includes a person's emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It can affect our behavior, mood, and how we interact with others around us. Sometimes, having an unwell mental health can be tied to decreasing productivity, negative emotions, and forming addictions due to coping. The topic of mental health has been difficult to talk about in communities of color, primarily because historical trauma has influenced how normalized issues have become. In recent times, this has started to change.

A Look into the Brain

The brain plays an important role in controlling and interacting with the rest of the body. Despite emotions and moods being associated with the heart, the brain is where the initial feelings begin. Various parts of the brain have different functions that help your body process messages and influence your behavior. Since behavior has a component within mental health, it is important to know how your brain contributes to your social, psychological, and emotional wellbeing.

Hormones

Hormones are typically spoken about when referring to teenage development and sexual health, but they are more than just that. Hormones are chemicals in the body that influence a person's overall functions and feelings. Understanding how hormones interact with your brain and the rest of the body can help bring perspective as to how someone's mental health is influenced not only by outside factors, but also by one's own body. Hormones can be influenced by the environment around us, our diets, and even events happening within our bodies.  

Pick one of the following hormones:​

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Dopamine (Pleasure & Reward)

Serotonin (Happiness) 

Oxytocin (Love)

Endorphins (Pain Killer)

Norepinephrine (Extreme Stress)

Epinephrine/Adrenalin (Stress)

Melatonin (Sleep, Anti-aging)

Cortisol (Stress)

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  • Look up the hormone online and produce a list of ways to enhance or decrease the hormone in one's body

  • Take your list and say which things on the list you currently do to help you keep your mental health in check

DISORDERS

ACTIVITY: Understanding Mental Health Disorders

Mental health disorders are often stigmatized within many communities and misrepresented in the media. Look up different types of media (videos, pictures, etc.) about the following disorders:

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  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

  • Bipolar Disorder

  • Schizophrenia

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For this activity, attach a link to the form of media you found for each disorder. Then include answers to the following:

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  • If you could explain this disorder to a five-year-old child, how would you do that?

  • In this form of media, do you think that this disorder is being accurately represented? Why or why now?

  • If you had this disorder, how would you think your interactions with your loved ones (family, friends, etc.) be like? Are there reasons why you think the relations would go the way that you think?

CASE STUDY

Summary:

  • A study was conducted in recent years to better understand the relationship that people's mental health had with social media

  • After going over a sample of around 2000 tweets from Twitter, depression was found to be a common topic discussed or showcased 

Imagine you are a psychiatrist who specializes in working with teens. You screen one of your patients (who has depression) and they report that they feel  a sense of relief when they share their thoughts online. While they report that, they also mention that they feel a bit insecure while scrolling through Twitter and other social media apps, and it makes them feel like they’re not doing enough with their life.

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  • Create a plan for your patient - focus on coming up with coping strategies without having to resort to medications.

  • Find out different activities to help  your patient to relax during times of stress.

YOU'RE DONE! 

Now please email discussion questions responses and your case study response (all inside the purple rounded squares) with the subject line "PL MH" to Danielle at youthprogramahs@gmail.com.

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