Unit 2: Mental Health Reflective Assessment

  Mental health
     "Our youth spend more time in school than they do anywhere else except their own home. School is one of the best places for both educators and students to become increasingly aware of mental health, mental health problems and mental disorders." (Teen mental health) In NEW school our teachers have educated my classmates and I about the importance and awareness of mental health. They have taught us in many different ways and we have showed our knowledge using three subjects English, Science and Technology.  I have showed my knowledge of mental health in different kinds of ways such as my unit project, Romeo and Juliet and science experiments such as cauliflower
brain and the DNA lab. 

     My unit project was about depression, I did a video about the causes and explaining what it is, this falls into the technology class. In order to make a strong message and show awareness about depression I decided to use audio clips of some people who have been in the mental state of depression. In my opinion I think I have showed a strong message and while we did the exposition I got many compliments from parents and I got told my video showed a very strong message. While doing audio clips and editing it made me very emotional and hard to think about how many people are affected by depression. Also in my technology class I made a blog about my passion it is called A passion for soccer I really enjoy doing my blog and writing so my readers will enjoy the blogs. I've been proud of what I have written and excited for the future of my blog and how it can expand. 
  
 
   

   
   

    In English our class focused on the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, reading is not my kind of thing, we made it more entertaining by acting out the scenes. While our class was told to analyze the characters and play, find the literary devices and vocabulary we found out many of the characters in Romeo and Juliet had mental health disorders and this falls back into our unit. In my essay about the mental health of Juliet I did depression and mentioned her moods and how she was brought up by her parents.Also in our English we learned about Shakespearean sonnets and how many lines, quadrants, and how many he wrote.

     Science is always interesting to me I enjoy doing labs this unit we did were a DNA lab and did a cauliflower 'brain'. In the DNA lab we were trying to find out who the murderer of Juliet and Romeo really was, in my group we thought it was her father, Capulet we happened to be wrong. Our lab came across many obstacles because we did not have the right materials to do the lab such as stainless steel wire and having the comb stick to our gel, our data was not conclusive. In order to know who the murderer was we had to use a certain enzyme in order for the DNA to break up except we did not have the funds to get a hold of the enzyme. We also used a cauliflower to label parts of the brain and to know what each function consisted of, the importance of this is because in depression and may also include other mental health disorders is that it can be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain.

     During this mental health unit I have learned the importance of the disorders and why we should be aware of what is happening around us, it can be affecting one of our peers. Unfortunately mental illnesses are very common and I believe everyone should be aware of what could be happening to the people around them. While in this core stress has hit us all students while doing projects and with coping with stress we had an amazing yoga instructor in order stress for us to relax, I really enjoyed the idea and I think it is a great way to cope with stress. I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes in science because us, human beings are fallible and not all science labs are perfect and show the data we are expecting. All in all the mental health unit has been my favorite and I enjoyed learning about it and will take this information with me later on in life.

    

Snapchat dont's- Fun friday

Problem Solving

Making equilateral triangles

we used 6 popsicle sticks to make 4 equilateral triangles.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- Sebastian Junger’s TED Talk

A disorder of failure to recover after experiencing a traumatic event. Something that surprised me is that it does not only happen to people from the military but it can happen to anyone that has had a terrifying experience.

Symptoms
nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and/ or depressed mood

• People of higher class have a higher percentage of getting depression.

• In 9/11 the PTSD rates decreased because the city was unified under the attack.

Understanding depression in teenagers

Why is there depression? 

A way of changing ones own environment 

focus cognition 

psychic pain  

Definition of major depression episodes 

depressed mood 

loss of interest or pleasure 

Depressed  mood nearly everyday 

Weight loss or weight gain 

insomnia 

DSM IV major depressive episode 

fatigue or loss of energy every day 

feeling worthlessness or excessive guilt 

diminished ability to think/ concentrate 

recurrent thoughts of death 

significant distress 

is depression a serious problem? 

Depression is 

Potentially fatal 

adolescents with major depression are up to 30% times more likely to die of suicide 

Origins in early life 

affects 9% of adolescents 

Depression diagnosis 

diagnosis should also address 

presence of manic symptoms 

underlying medical causes (e.g. anemia, thyroid disease 

risk assessment 

Depression treatment 

pharmacology

srontin, reputake inhibitors, fluoxtine, sertraline

 60% of young people respond to take an antidepressent 

Depression is a disease 

Depression is probably a heterogeneous syndrome 

Binge eating, Anorexia, Bulimia

Binge eating disorder 

Binge eating is a disorder when characterized by episodes of eating large quantities of food to the point of discomfort and then feeling guilt afterwards.
Binge eating is most common in the United States

• 3.5% women
• 2% men 
• 1.5% adolescents

Symptoms 
Eating rapidly, eating until full uncomfortably, feeling disgusted after eating
A feel of not being able to control what is eaten.
Behavioral characteristics 
Evidence of binge eating
secretive food behaviors

Physical characteristics 

body weight varies

Binge eating disorders is often associated with signs of depression. Binge eating is more common than anorexia and bulimia combined.

Anorexia 

Symptoms

• Inadequate food intake leading to a weight that is clearly too low

• Intense fear of weight gain, obsession with weight and persistent behavior to prevent weight gain

• Self-esteem overly related to body image

• Inability to appreciate the severity of the situation

Warning Signs

• Dramatic weight loss

• Preoccupation with weight, food, calories, fat grams, and dieting

• Refusal to eat certain foods, progressing to restrictions against whole categories of food (e.g. no carbohydrates, etc)

• Frequent comments about feeling “fat” or overweight despite weight loss

• Anxiety about gaining weight or being “fat”

• Denial of hunger

• Development of food rituals (e.g. eating foods in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate)

• Consistent excuses to avoid mealtimes or situations involving food

Health Consequences

• Abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure, which mean that the heart muscle is changing. The risk for heart failure rises as heart rate and blood pressure levels sink lower and lower

• Reduction of bone density (osteoporosis), which results in dry, brittle bones

• Muscle loss and weakness

• Severe dehydration, which can result in kidney failure

• Fainting, fatigue, and overall weakness

• Dry hair and skin, hair loss is common

Bulimia Nervosa

a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of binge and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating

Symptoms

• Frequent episodes of consuming very large amount of food followed by behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting
• A feeling of being out of control during the binge-eating episodes
• Self-esteem overly related to body image

Warning Signs

• Evidence of binge eating, including disappearance of large amounts of food in short periods of time or finding wrappers and containers indicating the consumption of large amounts of food.
• Evidence of purging behaviors, including frequent trips to the bathroom after meals, signs and/or smells of vomiting, presence of wrappers or packages of laxatives or diuretics.
• Excessive, rigid exercise regimen--despite weather, fatigue, illness, or injury, the compulsive need to “burn off” calories taken in.
• Unusual swelling of the cheeks or jaw area.
• Calluses on the back of the hands and knuckles from self-induced vomiting.
• Discoloration or staining of the teeth.

Health Consequences

• Electrolyte imbalances that can lead to irregular heartbeats and possibly heart failure and death
• Inflammation and possible rupture of the esophagus from frequent vomiting
• Tooth decay and staining from stomach acids released during frequent vomiting

Electrophoresis Gel Box

We are making Electrophoresis Gel Box  to test DNA to find out who killed Romeo and Juliet who do you think it will be?

Project success guest speaker

What is a mental disorder? 
Affects persons thinking, emotional state and behavior
disrupts persons ability to: work or attend school, daily activities and relationships
Anxiety
a normal reaction to stress
many different types of anxiety disorders
involves a certain fear or worry and can be difficult to control
Symptoms
unsocial, restlessness, feeling tense, trouble concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, sweating, pounding heart, dizziness, shortness of breath, muscle tension
Types
panic disorder, specific phobia, social anxiety, generalized anxiety
Causes
School, life events, abuse,high stress, violence, heredity, brain chemistry, medical conditions
Statistics
32%of teen will experience anxiety
80% will not receive treatment
Average age is 6 years old
Depression
mood or loss of interest
change in sleep and activities
guilt worthlessness
thoughts of death or suicide
Causes
trauma, environment, stress, hereditary, medications, alcohol and drugs  
Statistics 
20% of teens will experience depression before reaching adulthood
teenage girls report suffering more during depression than teenage boys \
Suicide and self harm 
suicide attempt to die
suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-24 years old
self harm is a negative coping tool
Warning
threats to kill or hurt him or herself
making a plan of suicide
abusing substances
current talk of suicide
QPR
Q- Question
P- Persuade
R-Refer
Do not wait always ask the question
Must call 911
A person with a weapon
tells you that they have overdosed on pills
post on social media threatening suicide
express immediate intent to harm self or others