Coping Skills
Coping skills! Things like deep breathing, walking, talking with someone, coloring, etc.
What are healthy digital boundaries you could create in relation to social media? (name 2)
Take breaks often (touch some grass)
Unfollow accounts that make you feel upset, insecure, or stressed
Follow real people (like your friends)
Try posting without edits
Avoid screen time before bed (put phone away)
True/False: Mental health does not change based on external factors like stress, sleep, life events, etc.
False - Mental health is heavily influenced by external factors.
What is perfectionism?
Trying to be perfect all the time in order to feel accepted and successful. The belief that mistakes are not ok
Spring allergies are often triggered by this powder released from plants and trees
Pollen
Name one unhealthy coping strategy that we often use to temporarily avoid problems. We often use this as a distraction
Excessive screen time
Research shoes that excessive social media use can sometimes increase feelings of these two mental health challenges
Anxiety and depression
True or False: Stress is helpful and normal
True: Stress is normal to an extent and helps us to be prepared for various situations
True
At what age is the brain considered to be fully developed?
25
*The brain can continue to develop after this age*
True or False: Coping skills work even if I don't practice
False - Practicing coping skills is just as important as practicing for a big football game. Don't show up to practice and you don't know what to do. Practicing coping skills helps to create neural pathways, so when our stress response system is activated we know what to do.
What can happen to our mental health when we begin to compare ourselves to the highlights of other people's lives on social media?
Burnout
Self-esteem concerns
Body Image Concerns
Depression
Anxiety
Emergency situations cause our frontal lobe, including the pre-frontal cortex (Wizard brain) to shutdown and activates our stress response system (lizard brain). When our stress response system is activated we typically do what?
Helpful hint - 3 F's
Fight, Flight, or Freeze
What is the difference between unhealthy perfectionism and high standards for yourself
High standards mean you want to do you best and work hard, but you understand mistakes are part of learning and set realistic goals for yourself.
Unhealthy perfectionism means you feel like anything less than perfect is failure.
Touch some grass
Why is deep breathing an important skill to practice?
Deep breathing tells our body and brain that it is ok or that we are safe! Can you breathe deeply if you are running away from a wolverine in the Rocky Mountains?
How do people often feel after scrolling on social media?
Unproductive, unhappy, bored, difficulty finding hobbies
What chemical is released when our stress response system is activated?
Helpful hint it starts with an A not a D
Adrenaline
This mindset encourages learning from mistakes instead of seeing them as proof you are not good enough
Growth Mindset
No - only bison
Using coping skills to shut off our stress response system, also helps to turn on which part of our brain
What chemical in the brain is released in small doses when we scroll through short videos (like TikTok, Facebook Reels, Youtube Shorts, etc.)?
Dopamine
This term describes the ability to recover or bounce back after something is difficult.
Helpful hint - We discussed this term during the "Beautiful Oops" lesson. It starts with a R
Resilience
When we see multiple highlight reels (the best parts of people's lives) and begin comparing ourselves to those videos, what thoughts might we have or what process begin happening?
(Helpful hint - This is the part of class where I told the story about working out at 3:50 am)
How fast can a wolverine run? (The animal not Hugh Jackman)
30 MPH