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Curriculum Guide

TRAINING

Presented By:

Date:

Audience:

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Go-To Educator Training. Offered as a one day training in person, or condensed for online delivery in a minimum of 2 two hour blocks. (Also a version of MHL Foundations for those working with youth available. .

Curriculum guide training: Can be offered as a face-to-face training or online through University of British Columbia. The link to the UBC course is https://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/teach-mental-health-literacy/

The UBC course is free (with an optional charge for a certificate).

Curriculum Guide: Classroom resource to be implemented with youth Grade 7-12. (There is a supplementary guide to offer tips for online delivery. Elementary curriculum materials are currently being developed!

Parent MHL Session: A two hour face to face seminar or a 1.5 hour virtual session offered by a Core trainer -preferably a mental health clinician and school district member to field any questions from parents.

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The pathway through care starts with awareness but that is not sufficient alone. Literacy is beyond being aware; it is being able to make more informed choices and actions. Then individuals must navigate supports and have informed conversations with care providers. Remember that students return to school or are in school while receiving care (which is why this is called the Pathway THROUGH care, not pathway TO Care ). A mental health literacy goes beyond identifying students for further assessment and helps educators feel more confident in the types of support they can offer students.

Baxter, A., Kutcher, S., Wei, Y. Cawthorpe, D. (In review) School-based mental health literacy training shifts the quantity and quality of referrals to tertiary services: A Western Canada regional study, In Review

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All the words on this slide have been pulled out of academic literature and government documents to describe mental disorders. This slide demonstrates how much confusion there is around the topic of mental health and mental disorders, not only in the general public but also amongst professionals in the field. .

By calling mental illness or disorder anything else – we perpetuate stigma!

E.g. of ‘mental health ‘issue’’ ….This term is very unclear. It muddies the water when everything can be referred to as a mental health issue. (e.g. a child having a tantrum at a store for not getting a candy may be having a ‘mental health issue’ but so is a person with Schizophrenia having a psychotic break…When we call both of these states a ‘mental health issue’, it obfuscates the meaning.

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Mental States

Mental Distress

Mental Health Problem

No Distress, Problem or Disorder

Mental Disorder/Illness

Mental Health

(In online delivery, it is good to cue your audience to the most important slides in case they are multitasking. Give them a ‘heads up’ for this one ☺).

This pyramid shows the various mental states where we exist. It is bigger at the bottom than the top, to demonstrate that more of us are in the bottom state than the top more of the time.

Let’s review each term.

At the bottom of the pyramid we have a state where we are doing just fine. No particular distress, problem or disorder worth mentioning.

Next is Mental Distress. (You can ask your audience if they ever experience mental distress- via poll question or just throw it out there if you like)

Mental distress is everywhere and unavoidable. Another word for this state is STRESS! It is an inevitable part of life and can spur on developing life skills and build resiliency!! (You may be asked about toxic stress from prolonged abuse and neglect, and you can clarify that here we are talking about the usual kind of everyday stressors experienced).

Example to share:

e.g.. “I lost Wi-Fi connection in the middle of delivering a presentation. This led to me experience mental distress.” (Feel free to give your own recent example of experiencing stress to connect to the audience – e.g. choose something relatable, and better yet humorous!)

Point out: Mental distress is a signal from our brain that we need to adapt to our environment, that there is a problem that we have to solve. When we solve the problem the distress goes away, and we are left with a new skill that we can use to help us solve future problems. Mental distress is necessary for growth and development. We ALL have the ability to mitigate stress and this is how we learn to problem solve and develop coping skills to manage in adulthood!

Next term is a Mental health problem – Also may arise in response to an environmental stressor, but one of significantly greater magnitude, such as loss of a loved one, loss of a job, immigration, or ….a world- wide pandemic!! When faced with such a large stressor our capacity to mitigate it may be overwhelmed for a time. This doesn’t mean there is an illness. On the contrary, what we are experiencing is an expected response to a significant stressor. Mental problems are an indicator that we are having difficulties adapting to the environment and may need external help (e.g. counselling, additional family and/or community support).

A good example of a mental health problem is grief: which is a normal response to a significant life stressor. Other examples are adjusting to life in a new country without adequate supports, or the loss of a job, divorce etc.

Note that experiencing the COVID pandemic MAY or MAY not be a mental problem for someone. For one person, it may be a very manageable stressor, perhaps leading to some mental distress, and for someone else, not really an issue at all!

At the top of the pyramid is a Mental Illness or Disorder: This is caused by a perturbation in usual brain function. (aka a disruption or hiccup in brain function.) It can sometimes occur regardless of environmental factors. Most often it is the result of a complex interaction between the environment and genetics/epigenetic factors. Worldwide, 15-20 % of the population will have a mental illness. Youth with mental disorders/illnesses need rapid access to trained professionals for proper diagnosis and proven effective treatments.

Remember that you can exist in all of these states at the same time. (Provide an example here). For example, a grade 12 student who has ADHD may be experiencing a mental problem – break up with his girlfriend that he has had since grade 10, and may be stressed about his upcoming physics final, (mental distress) and at other times he is enjoying a video game with his friends, and feeling no distress. )

It is not a continuum and you don’t have to work your way up in order. We all experience mental distress but not all of us end up developing a mental disorder.

Note that Mental Health is present in all states! Mental health is not about being happy all the time. The WHO defines Mental Health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

* Note: Someone with a well treated mental disorder may have better mental health than someone who doesn’t have a mental disorder!

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To upgrade teachers’ mental health knowledge

To enhance teachers’ confidence in teaching mental health and mental disorders in the classroom

To help reduce teachers stigma through enhanced knowledge

https://mhlcurriculum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/final-teacher-knowledge-update.pdf

The Guide: Teacher Knowledge Update

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Using The Guide

https://mhlcurriculum.org/

Log on to the website

Password is:

t33nh3alth

Explore the resources

Find Modules

Review each Module – including PP slides and animated videos

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