Mental & Emotional Health

Adapted from Glencoe Health, 2005

Characteristics of Good Mental and Emotional Health

• Mental/Emotional Health- the ability to accept yourself and others, adapt to and manage emotions, and deal with the

demands and challenges you meet in life.

People with good mental/emotional health

demonstrate…• Positive Self-Esteem: feelings of confidence • Sense of Belonging: emotional attachment to

family, friends, and others.• Sense of Purpose: recognizing your own

value and importance.• Positive Outlook: seeing the bright side of

life.• Autonomy: having confidence to make

responsible and safe decisions, which gives you a sense of independence.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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Striving to become the best you can be.

The need to be recognized.

The need to be loved and belong.

Need to be secure from danger

Need to satisfy the basic needs.

Meeting Your Needs

• Practicing abstinence and meeting your needs in a healthy way will help prevent risky behaviors, and will strengthen your mental/emotional health.

Personality• Personality: a complex set of characteristics

that makes YOU unique.• Personality is an important factor in how you

choose to meet your needs.• This includes:

• Your individual emotional make-up, attitude, thoughts, and behaviors.

• Heredity and Environment• Modeling- observing and learning from

those around you.

Your Personal Identity• Personal Identity- your sense of yourself as a unique

individual.

• Your personal identity is made up of the following:

InterestsLikes and

dislikes

Talents and abilities

Values and

beliefsGoals

Emotions• Emotions- Signals that tell your

mind and body how to feel.

Communicating emotions effectively is the key to building and managing healthy relationships.

Identifying Your Emotions

• Different emotions teens feel:• Happiness- pleased or feel good• Sadness- discouraged and have less energy• Love- strong affection, deep concern, respect• Empathy- able to understand how others feel• Fear- increases alertness, scared• Guilt- acting against one’s values• Anger- mad, frustrated

hostility-the intentional use of unfriendly or offensive behavior.

Dealing with Emotions in a Positive Way

• Strategies used to help deal with your emotions are:• Look below the surface

• What am I reacting to? Does the intensity of my emotion match the situation?

• Consider the situation• Does the event really matter? Will it matter

tomorrow, next week, or next year?• Consider the consequences

• Don’t take action until you have thoroughly considered the possible consequences of your action.

Dealing with Emotions in a Positive Way Con’t.

• Use Positive Feelings• Use the positive feelings to help inspire you. • Fuel your negative feelings into physical activities or

engaging in conversations with a family member, or friend.

• Seek Help• If the negative feelings do not disappear, seek help

from a parent, another trusted adult, or a health care professional.

Managing Difficult Emotions

Dealing with Intense Emotions

Take slow deep breaths and relax when you feel the emotions building.

Get away from the situation to gather yourself together.

Control your feelings by

analyzing the situation that caused them.

Write in a journal or play music.

Managing Difficult Emotions

• Defense mechanisms: mental processes that protect individuals from strong or stressful emotions and situations.• How people often avoid the emotions that cause

discomfort.• Can keep a person from what is really facing you.

• Suppression: holding back or restraining.• provides a temporary escape from an unpleasant

situation.

Handling Fear• Fear is an emotion that people work to overcome.

• Some fear is healthy and natural; only when fear is irrational or uncontrollable should you consider it a problem.

• How to overcome your fear

Talk about your fear

with someone you trust.

Analyze the situation

that causes fear.

Identify your fear

Dealing with Guilt

Try to get at the underlying source of your guilt and address that issue.

Resolve to be more careful and responsible in the future.

Discuss the situation with family or friends.

Managing Anger• Constructively managing anger is

similar to dealing with guilt: try to get to the underlying source and address it!