The Mental Health Handbook for Primary School

Raising Awareness of Mental Health Issues and How to Deal with Them

Belinda Heaven

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351686938
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The stigma attached to mental health and the social barriers that surround it amplify its direct effects and damage the life chances of people with mental health problems. Department of Health (2011) Educating children and young people about mental health is of vital importance if we are to challenge the ignorance and stigma related to this area of health. Many young people will be living in families where an adult member may have mental health problems or indeed may be facing similar problems themselves. This book provides a comprehensive resource to help teachers deal sensitively with this important area. Part One provides an introduction and background information highlighting the need to tackle Mental Health in primary schools. The facts are startling - 10% of 10-16 year olds have a diagnosed mental health disorder, there is an increasing number of children self-harming and an alarming increase in early eating disorders. This section provides clear guidance on how to use the programme, including working with parents and answering questions children may ask. Part Two details a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation introducing staff to the programme. Part Three provides wide-ranging lesson materials with comprehensive teacher notes and including all the necessary copiable resources for using the programme from years 3 through to 6. Part Four has a Glossary of Terms as well as a valuable Resource Directory to direct the busy teacher to other useful sources of information. The accompanying downloadable resources include: activity pages; a model letter for parents; and, staff PowerPoint.

Part One

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Developing Mental Health Education

Introduction

Why it is Important

National Initiatives

Facts and Figures

How to Use this Programme

Working with Parents/Carers

Questions Children Ask

Introduction

Educating children and young people about mental health and its associated problems is of vital importance. There is much stigma and discrimination in society, mainly due to a lack of understanding and ignorance. This resource will set out to challenge some of the stereotypical views and provide teachers with a comprehensive programme to enable them to deal with this important issue in a sensitive manner. Evidence of why this work should be undertaken will be highlighted throughout the programme, along with background information and signposting to additional avenues for support, advice and guidance.

Many primary schools are unsure as to how to tackle this subject and therefore choose not to. Unfortunately, while a number of national and local strategies and initiatives briefly mention mental health, the actual delivery of a specific programme such as sex and relationships (SRE) does not formally exist and also Personal, Social Health Education (PSHE) has not been made statutory by the new coalition government. Some schools will engage with outside agencies or use health professionals to tackle difficult subjects, many however, avoid them completely.

This does not mean mental health should not be discussed, in fact, quite the opposite could be argued. If society is truly going to tackle prejudice and reduce stigma and discrimination around mental ill health, then increased awareness and understanding is necessary to achieve changes in attitudes. This, in turn, will eliminate fear and ignorance thus ensuring it does not remain a ‘taboo’ subject. These issues are highlighted in the government paper ‘No Health without Mental Health’ (March 2011). This document highlights the stigma attached to mental ill health.

No other health area combines frequency of occurrence with persistence and breadth of impact to the same extent. The stigma attached to mental health and the social barriers that surround it amplify its direct effects and damage the life chances of people with mental health problems.

(Department of Health, 2011)

There is an easy reader version available for people with learning difficulties but it could also be useful to highlight policies for children. It may be downloaded from www­.dh.gov.uk/prod­_consum_dh/groups/dh_di­gitalassets/document­s/digitalasset/dh_­125123.pdf. The document states that there should be equal investment for physical and mental health although it is not entirely clear about what this would look like in reality. A community interest company set up in 2010 called Mental Health First Aid England (www.mhfaengland.org) has a number of key objectives including the aim to raise awareness of mental illness in the community and also to reduce stigma and discrimination. What better place to start on this journey than with young children whose minds are open.

Children and young people have been bombarded with health messages over recent years. Most especially the ‘five-a-day’ campaign! There are very few primary age children who are not aware of the benefits of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Research in 2003 by Brander established that 75% of all school-aged children were dehydrated. The ‘water in schools’ campaign was launched with much publicity and public support. Along with these initiatives came ‘wake and shake’ pioneered by Ruth Mitchell in 2009 to promote physical activity in schools. The concerns over childhood obesity have gathered momentum and huge campaigns with government backing/endorsement and funding have been mounted. These include Change for Life and The Health, Exercise and Nutrition in the Really Young (HENRY programme, 2010; www.henry.org.uk).

Sadly, the same cannot be said for promoting positive mental health. It remains the poor relation and has suffered for many years through lack of awareness, and therefore, no investment. While many primary schools have a robust PSHE programme incorporating SRE, Drug Education and Healthy Eating, very few actually produce lessons specifically to discuss mental health and associated problems. Recent emphasis has been placed upon physical activity within school settings. It could be argued this is a response to concerns over childhood obesity. It would, potentially, be too late for some young people if we reached the same crisis point with mental health conditions, and with the evidence on how effective early interventions are, then to wait is foolhardy at best.

The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL, 2004) programme is comprehensive and well thought out. Children and young people are encouraged to develop emotional intelligence based on Daniel Goleman’s (1995) principles:

• Managing feelings.
• Empathy.
• Motivation.
• Self-awareness.
• Social skills.

Each year group has a range of stories, assemblies and Circle Time activities, including small group work and materials for parents. Few teachers have accessed the staffroom activities that focus upon adult emotional intelligence, which is interesting and raises some concerns. If emotional wellbeing is to be effectively promoted in young people then surely it could be argued that wellbeing among teachers and support staff is fundamental. Corrie (2003) writes about the perceptiveness of young children and how they read body language. She goes on to quote Weatherley, ‘Don’t worry that your children don’t listen to you, worry that they are watching everything you do’.

Many people may reflect on words from their parents and grandparents, such expressions as ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say’ but a more modern approach is to model the sort of behaviour we would like to see in children and young people. How can teachers and support staff in schools promote self-awareness and empathy if they do not possess those themselves? SEAL is not statutory and while it teaches children and young people about emotions and feelings it stops short of discussing mental health and mental ill health. Newly qualified teachers may feel quite overwhelmed with their new role, anxious to make a good impression. They do not receive any specific training around mental health, therefore it is not surprising they do not discuss the subject for fear of saying the wrong thing. The same can be said for more experienced teachers. When you consider the high incidence of people with mental health problems and the stressful conditions of working in a school environment, it could be argued that many teachers might have mental health problems themselves and would prefer not to discuss a subject that might encroach upon their potentially fragile wellbeing.

‘Mental’ is a very loaded word. When questioned, both young and old render it as pathological and their expression of understanding indicates they view it with images of ‘madness’, people who are seriously ill, out of control and potentially dangerous.

Actually mental health is simply health of the mind. The Oxford Dictionary (11th edition revised, 2010) defines it as, ‘Mental = of, in or done by the mind. Health = state of being well in body or mind.’

Exploring further with the aid of a thesaurus:

Mental:

• Cerebral.
• Intellectual.
• Deranged.
• Disturbed.
• Insane.
• Lunatic.
• Mentally ill.
• Psychiatric.
• Psychotic.
• Unbalanced and unstable.

This is without exploring derogatory language! Is it any wonder that there is so much stigma, fear and ignorance associated with Mental Health? The World Health Organisation (2001) has not amended its definition of health since 1948, and is as follows ‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’

In 2008 there was a review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services that highlighted that unless a person is feeling mentally healthy, it is difficult for them to have optimum physical health and wellbeing. Healthy Lives, brighter futures (Department of Health, 2009) was a document launched jointly by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health. It emphasised that mental health and psychological wellbeing are fundamental to broader health and wellbeing. It also contained some useful case studies, most notably in Southampton where children and young people had been taught about mental and emotional wellbeing. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team at Southampton City Primary Care Trust devised a first aid course called, Emotional First Aid for Young People. Its aim is to teach young people how to recognise the signs of mental illness and to help them learn how to provide support and encourage the young person to seek help. More information on this interagency work may be found at (www­.emotional­firstaid.co­.uk/team). When people felt able to talk about difficulties they were much more likely to seek assistance earlier and this in turn promoted better recovery. The latest government document, No Health without Mental Health (Department of Health, 2011), which supersedes Brighter Futures (2009) includes notes on the phrase ‘mental health problem’. It is used as an umbrella term to describe the full range of diagnosable illnesses and disorders and it confirms the World Health Organisation’s view that good or positive mental health is more than the absence or management ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Forward
• Use of the CD-ROM
• Part One: Developing Mental Health Education
• Part Two: Staff Training in Mental Health Education
• Part Three: Lesson Materials: Sometimes My Brain Hurts
• Part Four: Resources