Learning Intention: In this lesson, you learn how to define mental health and how to respond to mental health disorders through self-care and by supporting others. 

Lesson Duration: 60 - 90 minutes

Create

A person’s mental health refers to their emotional, psychological and social well being. As a class, create a mind map of terms relating to mental health (e.g. emotions / experiences / conditions). 

Reviewing the completed mind map as a class, consider the following questions:

• Are more of the terms positive or negative?
• Are these terms relevant to people of all ages or just certain age brackets?

Reflect

Working in small groups, assign each member a different character from the show - Charlotte, Alex, Jamie, Zali and Leon. Based on the character, form a list of words from the mind map that you feel best describes the mental health of that character. 

Share your list with the other group members and then consider the following questions together:

• Do you think your character’s mental health is currently positive?? 
• What do you think are the main things impacting your character’s mental health? 
• Can you think of any scenes from the show where your character’s mental health becomes apparent?
• What could a friend do to support your character?

According to Kids Helpline, a mental health disorder or mental illness is something that can impact someone over a long-term period. Consider the following information:

Explore

As a class, discuss some signs we may notice in others who could be experiencing poor mental health or a mental health disorder. Make a list on the board.

Reflect

Compare your responses with these signs listed by Kids Helpline:

Watch

As a class, watch this scene between Zali and her father:

Reflect

In small groups, consider the following questions based on the scene you just watched:

• What different emotions do you think Zali experienced throughout the sequence? 
• Do you think Zali’s response was healthy or unhealthy?
• What do you think Zali needed from her dad at that moment?
• How could this conflict have been handled differently?

You may like to listen to Anika and Kien-Ling discuss this relationship in the Even More Than This podcast in Ep. 3 / Zali & Jamie.

Explore

Unfortunately, people experiencing mental illness may resort to self-harm. This is touched on throughout More Than This through Zali’s character. Consider the following information from Kids Helpline:

Explore

Prepare a list of questions you have about mental health disorders and invite your school counselor or healthcare provider to speak to your class to help you navigate this discussion.

Seeking help from a professional, a doctor, counsellor, therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist, is a great way to support mental health when life feels overwhelming. We can also use self-care to support ourselves and support others when mental health concerns feel more manageable.

Self-care refers to the ways in which we support our emotional, psychological and social well-being without the use of a healthcare provider. 

Explore

As a class, make a list of examples of self-care. Once you have formed your list, consider the following questions as a class:

• Did you notice any forms of self-care in More Than This?
• Which forms of self-care from your list do you think could have helped one or more of the characters from the series? 
• How did Alex use music as a form of self-care? 

If you need a reminder of self-soothing and self-care check our Task 2 in the lesson on family, peer and academic pressures

Watch

Throughout Zali’s mental health struggles, we see two characters in particular attempt to provide her with support: Emma and Jamie. Watch these scenes depicting the different approaches these characters take to supporting Zali.

In small groups, consider the following questions:

• What were the main differences in Jamie and Emma’s attempts to support Zali? 
• Which approach do you think was more helpful? Why?

Reflect

Think back to the character you were assigned in Task 1 - Charlotte, Alex, Jamie, Zali or Leon. Working in the same groups, write down three ways you think you could support that character’s mental health if they were your peer. Once all group members have finished, share your answers with one another.

Explore

Review these examples from Kids Helpline on how to support a friends struggling with their mental health:

Choose a character from the show and write them a short letter, mentioning any concerns you may have about their mental health in a supportive manner. Include some self-care tips they may be able to use and how you could support them in the process.