Teenage Mental Health and Wellbeing

with Nicola Morgan

Information, classroom materialsand resources:

www.nicolamorgan.com

Today

1. Challenges: what is adolescence like? Internal and external pressures.

2. Strategies: how we can maximise resilience, achievement and mental health/wellbeing.

More information:

• My books– About the teenage brain: – About teenage stress:

• My website: www.nicolamorgan.com– And my blog– Ask me a question

• Your handouts today• This presentation is online – see my blog today

Core conditions for care

A. AcceptanceB. UnderstandingC. Genuineness

Think about:

(Have your “acceptance, understanding and genuineness” been positively affected?)

1. What are your take-home messages?2. What might pupils benefit from knowing?3. How might you share knowledge with

colleagues and pupils?

Brain differences

Warning: generalisations ahoy! Yes, they are all individuals…

1. Major changes in neural connections 11+ (Boys usually later than girls)

2. Prefrontal cortex develops last (mid-20s)

Amygdala

PFC

Consequences Strong amygdala vs weak prefrontal cortex– Affects emotions: • volatility and control

– Impulse control – Empathy– Peer pressure– And risk-taking

Some words about risk-taking

Risk-taking

• Evolutionary drive/biology encourages risk:– Dopamine systems sometimes more active– Especially when peers are present

• Again, amygdala may overpower pfc• More weight on immediate pleasure• Need to provide opportunities– And reframe

More challenges

• Diminishing of a previous skill• Sleep changes– The double whammy

External stresses

Teenage stress

• Change: brains, bodies, chemistry, friends, fears, expectations, pressures

• Biggest stresses: exams and friendship issues• A regular schoolday• “New” stresses:

1. Exams: higher pressure, frequency + stakes

Teenage stress cont’d

2. The internet and social media: • 24/7 bullying – low empathy + lack of eye contact• Highly appealing/addictive – time-suck• Over-sharing – temptation to share personal info• Pressure to conform with tribe • Switching off connection to peers is very hard – “FOMO”• Digital distraction – multi-tasking is a myth

The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin

Teenage stress even more cont’d

• Biological differences: a. self-consciousness b. more brain response to stress c. slower adaptation

• “Scarcity” – of money, time, foodScarcity by Mullainathan & Shafir

• All worries/stresses lead to “Preoccupation”

“Preoccupation”

• If part of our attention is on something else, we cannot perform 100% on the task in hand1. The “bandwidth” analogy2. Intrusive thoughts; worries; self-consciousness

• Preoccupation diminishes performance/IQ:1. Cognitive capacity (aspects of learning)2. Executive control (aspects of behaviour)

Both The Organized Mind and Scarcity cover this

Acceptance, understanding, genuineness?

So:

1. What were the “core messages” that struck you as being most applicable to your work?

2. What might pupils benefit from knowing?3. How might you share knowledge with

colleagues and pupils? And parents?

Break!

Solutions and strategies

One topic for each group:1. Resilience2. Stress education3. Introversion4. Sleep5. Screentime6. Reading for Pleasure

Resilience

• Innate and learned• Does not come from cotton-wool– Warning about trigger-warnings

• Does not come from neglect or “stiff upper lip”

• Helicopter parenting vs safety net parenting– Teach skills; allow failure and trying again

Resilience

Is helped by:• “Growth” (not “fixed” mindset) – Carol Dweck

– “Drive” by Daniel Pink also covers her work

• Praising effort not talent• Acknowledging “character strengths” – see

Authentic Happiness website• Adults recognising which young people need

extra support: perfectionists etc

Educate about stress

• What stress IS – good and bad– RELAXATION IS NOT A LUXURY– Extra vulnerability of some – eg Type A

• Strategies:A. Breathing skills – for panic or general relaxationB. Down-time – activities to reduce cortisol

~ Different ~ Varied ~ Deliberate

C. Perspective: not alone ~ trusted adult

Are you valuing your introverts?

Introverts:– Expend energy in all social interaction– May not do best work when collaborating– Extra need for quiet time – mental and physical• Not just for relaxation but for thinking

– May also “ruminate” excessively – Likely to feel inadequate compared to extroverts

“Quiet” by Susan Cain – and her website

Sleep

The critical time

1-2 hours before bed – “sleep hygiene”

1. Winding down2. Stimulating melatonin – the sleep

hormone3. Creating routine

Screen-time and Sleep

Use addiction techniques:1. Autonomous and intrinsic motivation• Expectation of benefit• But don’t exaggerate or you lose credibility

2. Remove the opportunity3. Provide alternative – ideally, books

Screen-time and concentration

• Fact: we cannot focus as well on two things– Though the effect depends on the task

• “You will get your work done faster and better if you switch off distraction”

• Tools: Pomodoro technique; Antisocial– Experience of benefit– Feeling of control

Reading for pleasure

• Readaxation – see my website• We now have substantial evidence:– Self-esteem, relationships, knowledge, vocabulary,

attainment, empathy, mood, stress• Book must be freely chosen – NO judgment on book choice; fiction AND non

• Aim is “engagement” or “flow”– Reduces cortisol; stops rumination; improves

performance

CAUTION:Children who read a

lot risk becoming independent, open-

minded, questioning, knowledgeable and

CONFIDENT

Anxiety management

A. Empathise re anxieties – “understanding, acceptance and genuineness”

B. Breathing exerciseC. Intrusive thoughts – “pathways” exercise

Intrusive thoughts – a CBT tool

• Every thought is only a pathway in the brain• The brain learns by repetition, creating strong

pathways that are easy to follow• But the brain can learn negative, unhelpful

things, too => negative intrusive thoughts • (There is a pathways tool on my Slideshare

page and blog)

How well are we doing?What could we do differently?

A. ResilienceB. Stress educationC. SleepD. IntroversionE. ScreentimeF. Reading for Pleasure

Understanding Adolescence

with Nicola Morgan

Information, events, training, classroom resources and chances to win books: www.nicolamorgan.com