Lesson 5: Finding mental health information and help
Introduction The teacher reminds pupils about the barriers to people seeking help in a timely fashion and the importance of early intervention. Pupils are encouraged to discuss this further before commencing the activity. Starting the session Ground rules are to be revisited and pupils reminded to adopt a sensitive approach to the session. If possible, the teacher provides some health leaflets for the pupils to explore. If this is not possible, the pupils can access them via the internet.
Suggested websites www.youngminds.org.uk www.time-to-change.org.uk www.mentalhealth.org.uk www.mhfaengland.org www.theplace2be.org.uk www.nice.org.uk www.nhs.uk www.samaritans.org www.rethink.org www.papyrus-uk.org www.actionforhappiness.org Discussion
When the pupils have completed the activity page, they are asked to provide feedback to the rest of the class regarding their findings and opinions. The teacher uses this opportunity to facilitate a lively and interactive discussion which will aim to explore the way in which people find out information about mental health. It is also important to highlight the stigma and discrimination which may be apparent on some of the websites the pupils may have found. If time allows, the pupils are asked how a more positive angle could be achieved with the sites they have found. They could go on to explore how young people might be helped to determine which sites are helpful and which are very misleading. Also, they could consider how positive messages about organisations that promote positive mental health as well as providing help and support could be publicised.
Resources – Access to the internet – Worksheets with questions Aims
– To find out what help and support is available for people with mental health issues – To determine what services are available for young people who might be struggling Method Pupils will be logged on to the internet and provided with the worksheet which contains a series of questions, along with some helpful websites to explore. They are further asked to find out about local services. Activity: Mental health and what help is available Pupils are asked to share: – What they know about in terms of accessing support (a list may be drawn up in groups and shared at the end) – What they need to find out more about
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