AND

IN MID D L E AND LATE A D O L E S C E N C E

 REVIEW
• Several important topics related to adolescence
1. The different changes you underwent as an adolescent (physically,
mentally, socially, emotionally, morally, and psychologically)
2. The various challenges/problems that you face as an adolescent
3. Stress and how this affects one’s physical health, and the
importance of coping as a strategy in dealing with stress
4. Understanding the left and right brain and how this help improve
your learning
5. Learning to make a mind map that helps you in organizing ideas,
brainstorming, simplifying complex ideas, and serves as an aid in
studying/reviewing, and note-taking especially
• In this chapter, we will look at the concept of mental health
and well-being, and why this is important, particularly to
the adolescent, and to every person in general.
INTERPET THIS BIBLE QUOTATION
 MENTAL HEALTH
• It’s the way your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
affect your life.
• Good mental health leads to positive self-image and
in-turn, satisfying relationships with friends and
others.
• It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to
others, and make choices.
• Having good mental health helps you make good
decisions and deal with life’s challenges at home,
 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

• Mental health is a state of well-being in which the

individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope
with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to his or her community.
• Mental health is our ability to respond
to challenges.

• What kind of challenges? It could be

anything from:
1. A sudden encounter with a snake
2. Reviewing for an upcoming exam
3. It could be something physical like an illness
4. Something social like bullying or being
6. Or a to-do list the size of a mountain
7. It could be an argument with your family
8. Or a difficult essay
9. Or a death of a parent

• The fact is life rarely goes the way we plan. And

whenever we are hit by trials and challenges, mental
health is our ability to bounce back and stay on
course.
 HOW DO YOU GET THIS ABILITY?
Are you born with it?
NO. Mental health can change and the things that tend to
shape it are called risk factors and protective factors.

1. Protective factors
• Sense of self-efficacy – one’s perception of one’s value and
worth, effectiveness, and ability in performing a task or activity
• Mental health and well-being is also anchored on one’s self-
worth and value or self-esteem.
 SELF-ESTEEM AND BODY ESTEEM
• Does any of this sound familiar?
• "I'm too tall."
• "I'm too short."
• "I'm too skinny."
• “I’m too fat.”
• "If only I were shorter/taller/had
curly hair/straight hair/a smaller
nose/longer legs, I'd be happy."
Are you putting yourself down? If so, you're not
alone.

As a teen, you're going through lots of changes in

your body.

And, as your body changes, so does your image of

yourself.

It's not always easy to like every part of your looks, but
when you get stuck on the negatives it can really bring
down your self-esteem.
 WHY ARE SELF-ESTEEM AND BODY
IMAGE IMPORTANT?
• Self-esteem is all about how much you feel you are worth
— and how much you feel other people value you.
• Self-esteem is important because feeling good about yourself can
affect your mental health and how you behave.
• People with high self-esteem know themselves well. They're
realistic and find friends that like and appreciate them for who they
are. People with high self-esteem usually feel more in control of
their lives and know their own strengths and weaknesses.
 WHAT IS BODY IMAGE?
• Body image is how you view your physical self —
including whether you feel you are attractive and
whether others like your looks. For many people,
especially people in their early teens, body image can be
closely linked to self-esteem.
 WHAT INFLUENCES A PERSON'S SELF-
ESTEEM?
1. PUBERTY AND DEVELOPMENT
Some people struggle with their self-
esteem and body image when they begin
puberty because it's a time when the body
goes through many changes. These
changes, combined with wanting to feel
accepted by our friends, means it can be
tempting to compare ourselves with
others. The trouble with that is, not
everyone grows or develops at the same
time or
2. Media Images and Other
Outside Influences
Our early teens are a time when we
become more aware of celebrities
and media images — as well as how
other kids look and how we fit in.
We might start to compare ourselves
with other people or media images
("ideals" that are frequently covered
up). All of this can affect how we
feel about ourselves and our bodies
even as we grow into our teens.
3. Families and School
Family life can sometimes influence our body image. Family
members might struggle with their own body image
or criticize their kids' looks ("why do you wear your hair so
long?" or "how come you can't wear skirts that fit you?").
This can all influence a person's self-esteem, especially if
they're sensitive to others peoples' comments.

People also may experience negative comments and hurtful

teasing about the way they look from classmates and peers.
Although these often come from ignorance, sometimes they
can affect body image and self-esteem.
• Things That Tend to
Shape Mental Health
1. Protective factors
• A supportive family
• Or strong friendships
2. Risk factors
• Chronic illness
• Or low socio-economic
status
 EXAMPLE OF A MENTAL HEALTH AND
WELL-BEING MODEL
• The Wheel of Wellness
model includes what is
referred to as the five life
tasks developed in 1991 by
Witmer and Sweeney:
1. Essence or spirituality
2. Work and leisure
3. Friendship
4. Love
5. Self-direction
• Related to these five tasks 6. Sense of humor
are twelve sub-tasks as 7. Nutrition
major components of 8. Physical exercise
wellness or well-being
9. Self-care
that comprise the Wheel
of Wellness. These are: 10. Stress management
1. Sense of worth 11.Gender identity
2. Sense of control 12.Cultural identity (Note:
This may or may not apply
3. Realistic beliefs
to every Filipino, but we do
4. Emotional awareness and have cultural and regional
coping differences that need to be
5. Problem solving and understood and accepted.)
creativity
• It is important that the five tasks are balanced in
terms of time spent on each one, and of course, on
the amount of energy one gives to fulfilling each of
the tasks.
• The 12 sub-tasks are more of what one needs to
own and practice to achieve mental health and well-
being.
• In addition to the components, maintaining good
mental health and well-being requires resiliency
and adaptability, two important skills that
needs to be developed in every person
particularly the adolescent.
WHAT IS RESILIENCY?
• Resiliency – the capacity
to establish and maintain
one’s balance and well-
being in the face of
adversity.

• It is the ability to get back

on one’s feet after a
disaster or a crisis.
 WHAT IS ADAPTABILITY?
• Adaptability – the capacity to adjust to
changes necessary for one’s survival and
balance.
 HEALTHY SELF-CONCEPT AT THE CORE OF
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
• Having a positive regard for oneself means looking at
oneself as someone who is worth loving and worth
caring for, regardless of physical flaws and defects,
regardless of what other people perceive him to be, and
in spite of the thoughts, feelings, and behavior one
experiences.
• It is about understanding and accepting one’s personality,
uniqueness, and individuality.
• Having a positive warm regard for oneself is also about
seeing one’s strengths, challenges and successes, as well
as the stumbling blocks that come along the way in one’s
search for meaning and happiness.

• Having a wonderful self-concept is about having a

spirituality that provides philosophical and existential
meaning to one’s life, and about one’s relationship with
his perceived Supreme Being.
• Having a healthy self-concept is also about
embracing meaningful universal human values that
define who you are, and how these values form your
set of healthy attitudes about other people,
situations, and things.

• The bedrock of a healthy self-concept,

however, is a high sense of self-worth or
self-esteem.
GOOD PHYSICAL HEALTH IS GOOD FOR
MENTAL HEALTH
• The World Health Organization clearly noted that poor
mental health plays a signficant role in diminished
immune functioning and the development of certain
illnesses, and eventually premature death.
• One’s physical health is also an important factor
to good mental health.
• Sleep and nutrition, for example, should be given
importance and properly observed by an adolescent
whose tendency is to take these things for granted.

• An individual who is deprived of sleep, for example, will

be cranky, will have a short temper, will sometimes
become emotionally sensitive, and will also have a bad
memory.
• Physically, the individual deprived
of sleep may develop skin
rashes or acne, have dark
circles around the eyes, and
may even develop bad posture
because of feeling weak or sluggish
and having low energy.
• People around this person will
take notice and might even get
affected by certain behavior a
 HEALTHY SELF-CONCEPT +HEALTHY MIND AND
BODY = GOOD MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-
BEING
• When all of these elements are in balance, then
general well-being is experienced.
• Well-being is a state of wellness where every aspect
of a person is in balance.
• Being well and feeling well means that there is a general
sense of contentment, happiness, calmness, and peace
within.
• Developing one’s good mental health and well-being is
very important to the adolescent because this serves as a
strong foundation toward a happy and healthy
adulthood.
CHALLENGES TO MENTAL HEALTH AND
WELL-BEING
• A mental health problem is a short term and
temporary change in a person’s thoughts, feelings, or
behavior that upsets one’s well-being, interpersonal
relationships, and productivity.
• A mental health concern becomes a mental illness
when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress
and affect your ability to function.
• Many adolescents are more susceptible to mental health
concerns than adults. This is primarily due to their
underdeveloped brains and continuing changes in their
bodies.

• In addition to this, the adolescent is also going through

tough times in resolving their identity crisis and role
confusion.
• Roughly 20% of a country’s total population falls
under the 10 to 19 years of age category or the
adolescence category.

• The WHO estimates that there are around one billion

adolescents around the world today. This is the reason
why the World Health Organization has mandated every
member-nation to provide special health services to the
adolescent segment of their population.
 EXAMPLES OF MENTAL ILLNESS

1. Depression
2. Anxiety Disorders
3. Schizophrenia
4. Eating Disorders
5. Addictive behaviors (drugs and alcohol)
 DEPRESSION
• Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long time, and
affects your everyday life.
• In its mildest form, depression can mean just being in low
spirits. It doesn’t stop you leading your normal life but
makes everything harder to do and seem less worthwhile.
• At its most severe, depression can be life-threatening
because it can make you feel suicidal.
 WHEN DOES LOW MOOD BECOMES
DEPRESSION?
• We all have times when our mood is low, and we’re
feeling sad or miserable about life. Usually these
feelings pass in due course.
• But if the feelings are interfering with your life and don't
go away after a couple of weeks, or if they come back
over and over again for a few days at a time, it could be a
sign that you're experiencing depression.
 ANXIETY DISORDERS
• Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid –
particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we
think could happen in the future.
• Anxiety is a natural human response when we perceive that
we are under threat. It can be experienced through our
thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.

“Going out of the house is a challenge because I have

a fear of panicking and feel that I'm being watched or
judged. It's just horrible. I want to get help but I'm
afraid of being judged.”
 SCHIZOPHRENIA
• You could be diagnosed with schizophrenia if you experience some of
the following symptoms:
 a lack of interest in things
 feeling disconnected from your feelings
 difficulty concentrating
 wanting to avoid people
hallucinations, such as hearing voices or seeing things others don't
delusions (which could include paranoid delusions) – strong beliefs
that others don't share
 disorganized thinking and speech
 not wanting to look after yourself
 EATING DISORDERS
• If you have an eating problem you might:
• restrict the amount of food you eat
• eat more than you need or feel out of control when you eat
• eat a lot in secret
• feel very anxious about eating or digesting food
• eat lots of food in response to difficult emotions (when
you don't feel physically hungry)
• only eat certain types of food or stick to a rigid set of diet
rules and feel very anxious and upset if you have to eat
something different
• do things to get rid of what you eat (purging)
• stick to rigid rules around what you can and can't eat and how
food should look – and feel very upset if you break those rules
• feel strongly repulsed at the idea of eating certain foods
• eat things that are not really food
• be scared of certain types of food or eating in public
• think about food and eating a lot or all the time
• compare your body to other people's and think about their
shape or size a lot
• check, test and weigh your body a lot – and base your self-
worth on how much you weigh or whether you pass your
checks and tests.
 ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS
• Recreational drugs are substances people may take:
to give themselves a pleasurable experience
to help them feel better if they are having a bad time
because their friends are using them
to see what it feels like.
They include alcohol, tobacco (nicotine), substances such as
cannabis, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, and some prescribed
medicines.