National Alliance on Mental IllnessA self-help organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with a serious mental illness support education advocacyKEY MESSAGE: You are not alone

Overview of Talk Rationale for mental illness school educationWarning signs of mental illnessStigma associated with mental illnessHow the Breaking the Silence school education project teaches about mental illness

BREAKING THE SILENCE: Teaching the Next Generation about Mental IllnessRecognize the warning signs of mental illnessLearn that mental illness is treatableFight the stigma that surrounds mental illness

The importance of mental illness educationMental illness is not generally included in the school health curriculum.At least 1 in 5 adults suffer from a mental illness in a given year Surgeon Generals Report 20005 of the 10 leading causes of lifetime disability are mental illnesses and depression leads a list that includes bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, and substance abuse. Global Burden of Disease Study, 1990Illnesses like AIDS and breast cancer affect far less people, but ARE an accepted part of the health curriculumSubstance abuse is regularly taught, but without reference to mental illness which is often a co-occurring disorder

How common is mental illness in children & adolescents?1 in 10 children and adolescents suffer from a mental illness requiring treatmentBefore the age of 14 half who will develop a major mental illness are already showing symptomsOf those needing it less than 1 in 5 will receive treatmentSuicide is the third leading cause of death in teenagers ages 15 to 24.

Surgeon Generals Report - 2001

Impact of Untreated Mental Illness in the ClassroomInattentive students Poor attendanceBullyingDisruptive behaviorWeak social skills

Mental illness affects people from all walks of life, regardless of age, race, income, religion, or educationMental illnesses are no fault brain disorders Jessica LynchMiss New York State 2004

What are some of the mental illnesses that affect young people?MOOD DISORDERS depression, bipolar disorderTHOUGHT DISORDERS schizophrenia, bipolar disorderANXIETY DISORDERS examples: phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorderEATING DISORDERS anorexia, bulimia

What are the warning signs of mental illness?Dramatic changes in behaviorPersist over an extended period of timeAffect quality of lifeTypical symptoms Personality and extreme mood changes Changes in sleep and eating patterns Inability to concentrate and cope Extreme anxiety and irrational fears Bizarre behavior and speech Social isolation Reckless and uncontrolled behavior Suicidal thoughts and actions

Lets talk about Stigma

Stigma Deeply Rooted in Our CultureEvery socioeconomic group tends to devalue people with mental illnessStereotypes reinforced by the media--Television-- Radio-- Press-- Commercials/print ads-- Movies

Stereotype of violence

People with mental illness are frequently portrayed as villains in TV and moviesOn soap operas 2/3 of people with a mental illness are portrayed as violentMore likely to be victims of violence than perpetratorsOne out of six people with a mental illness has been a victim of a violent crime

Jack Nicholson in the movie The Shining

Stigma Learned at Early AgeChildrens media parallels adult stereotypesPredominant image is violent, fear producingMessage is that isolation not treatment is the answer

Sheldon Silverstein, Uncle Shelbys ABZ Book

Impact of stigma on access to care and opportunitiesSecond class status of mental health coverageScarcity of child psychiatrists only 6,000Lack of housing leads to homelessnessLimited job opportunitiesCollege acceptance may be impacted if mental illness is disclosedNot enough money for research

How does stigma affect someone struggling with mental illness?Feelings of shame and isolationLoss of friendsFuture thrown off course education, profession, marriageLowers self-esteem

How are families affected by stigma?Feelings of secrecy and shameDifficult to get family member to accept treatmentFamily becomes isolated from friends and extended familyNAMI study showed that 70% of their members marriages ended in divorce

How are siblings affected by stigma?Loss of relationship with brother or sisterAm I responsible?Feelings of neglectSurvivors guiltWill I get it?Fearful of classmates and friends finding out

What impact does stigma and mental illness have on schools?Families afraid to disclose psychiatric problemsTeachers often not trained to recognize or handle mental illness in the classroomSchool personnel fearful of speaking to parents about psychological problems

BREAKING THE SILENCE: Teaching the Next Generation About Mental IllnessFor three grade levels: upper elementary, middle school, and high schoolEach grade level packet includes lessons with fully scripted questions and responses, posters, games and definitions. User friendly and fully scriptedLessons are story based Emphasis on serious mental illness

Following up in the classroomSuggested cross-curricular activitiesTopics for further studyAnnotated book/video listsRecommended websites for further exploration of the topic

Elementary School - Fighting StigmaLisas storyLisas brother who is seeing a psychiatrist is called a mental by an insensitive classmateStay-at-Home MondaysJessica, who suffers from depression is isolated and treated abusively by her peersKnock-Knock Whos There?David suffers in silence as caretaker for his formerly fun loving mom who is in a deep depressionRole plays Using brain puppets students practice listening and responding empathetically Listen, Care, Ask, Suggest

Middle School Fighting StigmaStop Pretending PoemsPoems illustrate the cruelty of other students who make jokes about the authors older sister who has developed bipolar disorder.Famous Persons with Mental Illness Word SearchIncludes names such as Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Monica Seles who suffered from a mental illnessThe Brain GameA board game in which teams compete in answering review questions. Game cards provide multiple examples of stigmatizing and stigma busting behavior.

High School Fighting Stigma Ross Szabo bipolar disorderDirector of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness CampaignRoss travels around the country to college campuses educating people about mental illnessFeatured in stories in Seventeen and Parade magazinesJessica Lynch - depressionMiss NYS 2004Made mental illness her platformMeera Popkin schizophreniaActress. Major roles in London and Broadway productionsContinued to pursue her musical theatre career despite her illness

Ross Szabo Lectures at colleges

Elementary School Symptoms of Mental IllnessStay at Home Mondays depressionMultiple moves caused Jessica to withdraw sociallyDidnt want to go to schoolComplained of aches and painsSuicidal thoughtsKnock-Knock Whos ThereMoms dramatic change in behaviorUnable to cope with functions of daily livingCant get out of bed. Sleeps too much. Brains Can Get Sick Too poster

Middle School Symptoms of Mental Illness A Mothers Day GiftStory of a high school students struggle with schizophrenia.Extreme anxiety Bizarre and obsessive behaviorDeterioration in groomingGrades went down. Couldnt concentrate. Delusions The CIA was after him.

Nothing to Sneeze AtStory of Emilys resistance to acknowledging her OCDFear of contaminationCounting ritualsExcessive hand washing Late to school

The Brain Game Team competition questions include symptoms

High School Symptoms of Mental IllnessSchizophrenia as a Thought Disorder Delusions paranoid thoughts Hallucinations auditory & visual Excerpts from books, short stories --Lori Schiller told by TV it was her responsibility to save the world. --Brandon Fitch felt covers on magazine covers were jumping out a him --Colors too intense to bear --Couldnt block out background noise

Are These the Normal Ups and Downs of Adolescence or Mental Illness? --Students asked to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior

Warning signs of Mental Illness Poster

All Levels Treatment worksElementary Brains can get sick too, but with treatment they can get better posterLisas brother in Lisas Story is being treated for his mental illnessTreatment for mental illness compared to treatment for other illnesses such as heart disease.

Middle SchoolNothing to Sneeze At ends with Emily agreeing to see a therapist.Story describes a form of behavioral therapy used to treat people with OCD.In A Mothers Day Gift Brian requires hospitalization

High SchoolIntroductory lesson goes into detail about comparative success rates for treatment of mental illness compared to heart disease.Examples of young people being successfully treated for mental illness..

National Health Education Standards support teaching about mental illnessSTUDENTS WILL:Comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention.Demonstrate the ability to access valid health information and health promoting products and services.Analyze the influence of culture, media and technology and other factors on health.Demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

How teachers can integrate mental illness into the existing curriculumTeach tolerance toward people with mental illness as part of anti-bullying/ character education curriculumIntegrate into Substance Abuse curriculum. At least half the people with mental illness self-medicate by using drugs or alcohol

Why teach students about mental illness?Recognize warning signs in themselves and others Encourage early treatmentCombat the stigma that surrounds mental illnessDiscourage bullying and abusive behavior Create a more compassionate and concerned society

HELP EDUCATEYOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS

Contact us for more information BREAKING THE SILENCENAMI Queens/Nassau1981 Marcus Avenue, C-117Lake Success, NY 11042(516) 326-0797 or (718) 347-7284www.btslessonplans.org

Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauThey took his advice and for 10 years told no one. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness changed all that. At the same meeting she found other families like her own suffering from stigma who working together had found the courage to speak out and advocate.Lorraines way of speaking out was through what she knew besteducation. So she and a fellow teacher and advocate, Janet Susin, teamed up to create lessons to teach students about mental illness and how to fight the stigma that surrounds it.Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/Nassau Remember Jessica, Miss New York State? In a story called Stay at Home Mondays we describe how Jessica tried to get out of going to school on Mondays complaining of a stomach ache or not having slept well the night before. She spent the weekends alone playing make-believe world and couldnt bear to go back to school on Monday to her friendless real world.On the end of the spectrum are kids who instead of becoming withdrawn are disruptive in the classroom. Kids with untreated bipolar disorder, ADHD, and personality may act out in the classroom and disrupt learning. Brandon Fitch who suffered from childhood schizophrenia whose delusional symptoms are described by in our high school plans had to hide under the desk in elementary school and felt as if the taunts of his classmates drove a knife through his heart.

Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauLast year Jessica toured the schools talking about her platform, mental illness education. After years of suffering from mental illness, depression, bipolar disorder, and anorexia she finally accepted the need for treatment and got her life back again.

Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauMOOD DISORDERS Jessica was originally diagnosed with depression, but in her early twenties she began to have periods of mania alternating with depression and doctors diagnosed bipolar disorder. Its not unusual for mental illness to evolve and diagnoses to change over the years.

THOUGHT DISORDERS These are illnesses characterized by hallucinations and delusions when people are actively psychotic. Remember John Nash, the brilliant mathematician in A Beautiful Mind obsessed with numbers. According to his biographer he once believed that aliens or foreign governments were communicating with him through the New York Times . In our middle school lesson we tell the story of a teenager, Brian, whose desire to avenge a minor wrong at camp turned into a paranoid obsession of such intensity that it took over his life and he finally had to be hospitalized.

ANXIETY DISORDERS Phobias are the most common kind of anxiety disorder and our elementary school lessons introduce the concept of mental illness by asking kids to share their phobias, for example fear of spiders or fear of heights. And in our soon to be published middle school lessons we tell the story of girl with OCD who is always late to school because she has so many obsessive rituals to complete before she can leave the house.

EATING DISORDERS Although we dont deal with eating disorders in much detail in our lessons in our high school plans we talk about Jessica weighing only 79 pounds when she was hospitalized with anorexia in 8th grade. Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauIn our lessons high school students learn about a high school student who developed schizophrenia. His friends never call him anymore and hes left out of all the activities normally associated with moving toward young adulthood like having a part-time job, college interviews, and flirtations with the opposite sex.

They also learn about Ross Szabo, handsome, popular, and bipolar who had to put on a happy face because he always thought he should be able to deal with it. He wanted to fit in and felt that by admitting he couldnt deal with his problems people would view him as weird or weak. Thinking like that almost killed him when he tried to take his own life. Today he is in high demand as a spokesperson for Tipper Gores National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and travels all around the country speaking to young people about stigma and mental illness.Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauIn our middle school plans students learn about a young boy who has to care for his depressed mother, but when his aunt calls to ask how things are going he says Fine, just fine because hes ashamed to say that his mother wont get out of bed and has become a different person. Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauRemember that picture of Joel, Lorraines son, I showed you earlier? The other sibling is Jane, Joels sister. She remembers vividly what it felt like when her brother developed schizophrenia and still struggles today with some of those feelings.

Sonia Sones, a wonderful author of childrens books, also remembers what it was like. In her book of poems, Stop Pretending, based upon a diary she kept when she was in junior high, she poignantly recalls the experience of keeping her pain private.

Read

At Lunch

Everybodys sitting around telling jokes.I havent giggled this much in ages.

Then Kate says, Okay. Okay. Ive got one:which path does the mental patient taketo get through the forest?

and they all ask, Which path?and Kate says, The psycho path!aAnd everyone bursts out laughing,

except me.

Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauSECOND HALF Janets personal story stigma and Dougs friends Anna Eng support of NAMIs Campaign to End Discrimination How Lorraine got involvedJanet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/NassauJanet How can we include teaching about mental illness in the curriculum? Janet Susin, jasusin@optonline.net, NAMI Queens/Nassau