Mental/Emotional Health Unit Part 2 S.O.S. Prevention Program Acknowledge Care Tell
Mental Health Inc s S.O.S. Program Day One Your Classroom Teacher will read the following information aloud to help you understand our lesson for today: Today, our school is participating in the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program, which is taking place throughout the country. Our goal today is to help you recognize the symptoms of depression and/or suicide in yourselves, your friends or your loved ones. The purpose of this program is not to tell whether or not you are suffering from depression, but rather to tell you if you or someone you know may have symptoms that indicate a need for further evaluation. Today s program will include the following: 1 A DVD about the signs of suicide and the steps to take if you feel a friend or loved one is at risk. The students who participate in the video are students from the Main Line who have lived in a similar school and community environment as you. 2 Classroom worksheet & discussion 3 Completion of the Response Card by every student in the classroom. We ask that you respect the privacy of the person sitting next to you and keep your eyes to yourself. The cards will be collected by the Guidance Counselor present in our classroom. 4 Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce (Counselor s Name). They will be here for the duration of the lesson today to distribute and collect the response cards as part of the team that will provide support to students who may request it after the program. 5 Distribution of ACT wallet cards at the end of the class period. We ask that you put it somewhere you could access it any time you may need a refresher about ACT or the support numbers on the reverse side. Valley Creek Crisis number 610-918-2100 Teacher: Pre-DVD Introduction Being in high school can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming as everything changes at a fast rate and in a big way. With all that is going on, it s normal for students to feel down or discouraged at times. This DVD is meant to help you to know when a situation has gone beyond normal adjustment issues to something potentially more serious. This DVD will also show you how to respond by demonstrating the red flags you should watch for. It will also show you what to do when your friend seems down for weeks, or when their own sadness or lack of energy is seriously affecting their life. Please watch the DVD at this time. There is no need to take notes the notes are included in this section of the notebook as well as a newsletter you will receive at the conclusion of the program. Time permitting, we will hold a discussion at the conclusion of the DVD today or at the start of Lesson Two tomorrow.
Post-DVD Discussion Guide Day One (cont d) 1 Response Cards: Counselors will collect these throughout the discussion. Just hold it up when you re finished and they will come and get it from you. Please note that writing legibly will enable counselors to contact you in a more timely manner. 2 Purpose of the DVD: This DVD was intended to teach you to ACT : Acknowledge, Care, Tell a. Acknowledge: Admit that you are seeing the signs of depression or suicide in a friend and that is serious. b. Care: Let your friend know that you care about him or her and that you are concerned that he or she needs help you cannot provide. c. Tell: Inform a trusted adult, either with your friend or on his or her behalf. In watching the video, you should have noticed that despite he reluctance of actors to tell their parents, it is important to emphasize that parents should be considered trusted adults who will help. 3 Worksheet: Complete the objective question worksheet on the next page while the guidance counselor collects the response cards. Again, please respect everyone s right to privacy. Work quietly on your own. If time permits, your teacher will review the correct answers. If not, the answers will be reviewed in tomorrow s lesson. 4 ACT Cards & Student Newletter: to be distributed after discussion. Please add the contact information for Valley Creek Crisis 610-918-2100 to the back of your card and to your cellular phone if you have it with you. Please put the newsletter in your notebook. We will be referring to it in future lessons during this unit.
DVD Worksheet: Lesson 1 Name: Period: Directions: Choose the BEST possible answer to each of the following questions based on knowledge gained from Day One of the SOS Program. 1 A risk factor is a. Something that causes a person to commit suicide b. The thing a person does to harm themselves. c. Any personal trait or environmental quality that is associated with suicide d. None of the above 2 A warning sign a. Is usually something a person says just to get attention b. Has to be something violent c. Isn t really something you can see until it s too late d. An indication that an individual may be experiencing depression or thoughts of suicide 3 A protective factor a. Something my peers will use to hide the fact that they want to harm themselves b. A personal trait or environmental quality that can reduce the risk of suicidal behavior c. A person who takes away another person s power d. None of the above 4 A precipitating Event a. A recent life event that serves as a trigger, moving an individual from thinking about suicide to attempting to take his or her own life. b. Snow, rain, sleet, etc. c. The thing that stops a person from attempting to take his or her own life. d. None of the above 5 ACT Stands for a. Acceptance, Care, Tolerance b. Acknowledge, Care, Tell c. Acknowledge, Care, Tolerance d. Acceptance, Care, Tell 6 Susan is a freshman at Conestoga and has played soccer and been a musician all of her life. While doing course selection for their sophomore year, Susan tells her friend Karen that she is considering not trying out for soccer next year because she wants to concentrate on her interest in music. When Karen asks her why, Susan replies that it s because she may want to make a career out of it. Karen s primary concern for her friend should be a. Susan is withdrawing from activities she loves and may be contemplating suicide b. Susan is beginning to prioritize her life and future, so wants to be supportive. She should continue the conversation by asking her friend questions about what she wants to do with music in the future. c. Not having Susan on the soccer team may hurt their chances of qualifying for states next year
d. She should get Susan to Student Services right away because she is clearly suicidal. 7 Jonathan s friends have noticed that for the past few weeks, every time they ask him to do something, he always says he doesn t feel like it. They rarely see him except for in classes and at lunch where he is unusually quiet. His friends wouldn t think anything of it normally, but his sister told them he just sits in his room all the time since his girlfriend broke up with him. She asks her brother s friend Cam to talk to him. What two risk factors would already be very apparent to Cam as he goes to meet with his friend? a. Jonathan is showing a drop in grades and feelings of hopeless b. Jonathan is showing a loss of interest in usual activities and has suffered a recent breakup c. Jonathan is suffering from weight loss and family problems d. Jonathan has not shown any risk factors or precipitating events for suicide, so Cam doesn t need to worry 8 Clinical Depression is a. More than the blues or the blahs b. More than the normal everyday ups and downs c. When the down mood and other symptoms last more than a couple of weeks d. All of the above 9 The biological and emotional factors associated with depressive disorders may include (circle all that apply), a. A genetic link b. Difficult life experiences c. Difficulty handling stress d. Low self-esteem and/or extreme pessimism about the future 10 Why is depression considered serious? (circle all that apply) a. Poor school performance b. Truancy/Running Away c. Alcohol and Drug Abuse d. Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness 11 The rate of suicide among teens in the United States has in the past 25 years. a. Decreased b. Increased c. Remained the same d. No one knows 12 All forms of depressive disorders are alike a. True b. False 13 Which of the following statistics about depression do you believe are true (circle all that are true) a. Around 19 million Americans will be affected by depression this year b. 1/4 of all women will suffer at least one episode or occurrence of depression during their life c. 1/8 of all men will suffer at least one episode or occurrence of depression during their life d. Depression is less common in teens than adults but of 25 friends, 1 could be clinically depressed.
14 *It is normal for teenagers to be moody; teens don t suffer from real depression a. MYTH b. FACT 15 *Teens who claim to be depressed are weak and just need to pull themselves together. There is nothing anyone else can do to help a. MYTH b. FACT 16 *People who talk about suicide won t really do it. a. MYTH b. FACT 17 *If a person is determined to kill themselves, nothing is going to stop them. a. MYTH b. FACT 18 *People who complete suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help. a. MYTH b. FACT 19 *Talking about suicide may give someone the idea to commit suicide a. MYTH b. FACT 20 The most important step towards overcoming depression is a. Getting over it b. Ignoring it c. Just dealing with it d. Asking for help *Myth/Fact question taken from Implementation Guide p. 49
Mental Health Inc s S.O.S. Program Day Two Welcome back! Let s get started 1 Review a. What is the SOS Program s Purpose? b. What does the acronym A.C.T. stand for? c. DVD Worksheet Questions 2 DVD Discussion Questions a. Boys discussing SAT Scores i. What resonated with you about this clip? ii. What might make a student who thinks he/she has to be perfect at risk for suicide? iii. Do you see indications of depression and suicide risk in the student s words or behaviors? iv. How did his friend react to these signs? v. How did his friend use the ACT technique? b. Girl (Lily) and her brother discussing break-up i. Is it normal for people to have these kinds of feelings after a breakup with a girlfriend or a boyfriend? ii. Then what makes this girl s reaction so concerning? iii. What if Lily is gay and Alex was her girlfriend rather than her boyfriend? Do you think this might increase the suicide risk? iv. When you think about Lily being gay, do you understand better why when her brother suggested that she talk to their parents she said, Are you kidding? Mom and dad wouldn t understand. v. How did Lily s brother support her, knowing that she needed to speak with someone about her wishing she was dead and that it was also important that the trusted adult they talk to be accepting of Lily being gay? vi. How did this girl s brother use the ACT technique? c. Boy (Jason) who is always being picked on; potential for violent reaction i. What are some things that tell you Jason may be at risk to do harm? ii. Based on how he acts, would you think Jason might be depressed? iii. Do you think that this dramatization has anything to do with suicide? iv. How did the girls use the ACT technique in this dramatization? d. Boy (Michael) in bedroom who has stopped interacting with friends i. What has been happening to make Michael s friend concerned and worried about him? ii. Can you find anything in this dramatization that may have caused Michaels depression? iii. What if Michael had said or implied he was suicidal? iv. In this dramatization, how did Michael s friend use the ACT technique? e. Jordan s Story* f. Elyssa s Story* *Teacher notes on p. 40 and 42 of Implementation Manual
Mental Health Inc s S.O.S. Program Activity 3 HOTLINE ACTIVITY: Warning Signs of Suicide a. Many suicidal individuals talk about their suicidal feelings or plans before they attempt suicide. It is important to listen to these cries for help by practicing the ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) technique discussed in this unit. b. An individual working at a suicide hotline has been given information about suicide myths. One myth is that if you talk about suicide, you are more likely to attempt suicide. These hotline volunteers use the Warning Signs of Suicide lists to help them determine the risk level of the caller for attempting suicide. c. Your task is to work in pairs as you listen to a script that will be enacted by your teacher and the peer mediator in your room. The hotline staff is trying to communicate with the person calling and helping to address the problems. You and your partner are to use the Warning Signs of Suicide list to determine how many warning signs are in the script. A discussion of the number of warning signs will follow. d. Please turn to the Warning Signs of Suicide list at this time. Decide which one of you is going to place the check marks. Remember everyone needs to hear the call, so whisper or point to the page if you need to communicate with your partner. You will have a few minutes after the skit to make changes and/or review your answers. WATCH & LISTEN TO HOTLINE CALL SKIT
ACTIVITY: HOTLINE SKIT WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE LIST My Name: Partner s Name: FEELINGS Hopeless: Things will never get better ; There s no point in trying Worthless: Everyone would be better off without me. Helpless: There s nothing I can do about it ; I can t do anything right Guilt, shame, self-hatred: What I did was unforgivable ; I m useless Pervasive sadness Persistent anxiety Persistent agitation Confusion: Can t think straight, make decisions In script ACTIONS Uncharacteristic aggression Risk taking Withdrawing from friends/activities Becoming accident prone Recent losses: death, divorce, relationship, job, status, self-esteem Getting into trouble, discipline problems Drug or alcohol abuse Themes of death or destruction in talk, writing or websites In script CHANGE Personality: more withdrawn, low energy, don t care attitude, more boisterous, talkative, outgoing Can t concentrate on school, work, routine tasks Loss of interest in hobbies or work Marked decrease in school or work performance Sleep, appetite increase/decrease Sudden improvement after being down or withdrawn in script THREATS Statements talking about suicide directly/indirectly, written themes of death; preoccupation with death Threats: I won t be around much longer ; writing suicide notes; making a direct threat Plans: Giving away prized possessions; making arrangements for funeral; studying drug effects; obtaining a weapon Attempts to kill themselves, such as through an overdose in script