Strengthening Positive

AttitudesChapter 3

Developing Attitudes that Lead to Mental

HealthSection 3:1

Attitudes are learned behaviors that people develop as they interact with their environment

Positive and Negative Attitude

Life experiences and your thoughts about them influence your overall mental attitude

Positive thoughts about life experiences, your attitude will be positive

Negative thoughts, your attitude will be negative

Your mental attitude will be influenced by your thoughts about life, yourself, and your worth to others

People with positive attitudes think about themselves and their lives in favorable ways

People with negative attitude usually have low opinion of themselves. They believe that it really does not matter what they do or think

Attitudes Affect Behavior Your attitudes affect how you behave

Self-perpetuating cycle – the process of attitudes producing action that may cause those same attitudes to increase Example – if you start your day with a

negative attitude you may put on sloppy clothes

Positive attitudes can produce a cycle of postitive actions. Example – if you start the day to time to

groom carefully, you would be able to look in the mirror and say “I look good”. Thus causing positive feeling and help have a positive attitude

How Mental Attitudes Develop

Past Experiences

Other People

Teens who adopt a positive mental attitude view themselves as valuable people

Mental Health

Mental Health describes the overall condition of you attitudes. The state of your mental health depends on how well you deal with feelings about yourself, others and the world around you

The Use of Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms are methods people unconsciously use to deal with life situations

Defense mechanism can create more negative feelings and limit personal growth

Defense Mechanisms

1. Projection – placing blame on others for their problems or shortcomings

2. Rationalization – giving excuses to defend a behavior

3. Displacement – taking out one’s feeling on someone else

4. Conversion – transferring an emotion into a physical symptom

Defense Mechanisms

5. Regression – returning to immature behavior

6. Idealization – assigning excess value to someone or something

7. Fantasy – meeting needs through the imagination

Building a Positive Attitude

Direct Attack is a method used to face, a problem, recognize it, and try to solve it

Compensation – a technique in which you focus on strength to make up for a weakness in another area

Set reasonable expectation – when people expect to much form themselves or other their expectations may be difficult to reach. They may become discouraged and feel they cannot succeed

Use Positive Self-Talk – messages that you send yourself, positive messages will result in more positive about yourself

Interpret the facts

Select Your Friends

Coping with Difficult Events and Emotions

Sections 3:2

Stress

Stress is your body’s response to events on your life

Simple events can cause stress such as oversleeping

Causes of Stress

Normative stressors – everyday events Positive – winning a race Negative – missing the bus

Crises events – events which changes your life that require major changes in your behavior Moving to new neighborhood Fired from job

Stress is part of your everyday life and you need to develop skills for handling stress

Handling Stress

Positive mental attitude will help you hand stress in a healthful way

Learning how to handle stress is a skill

Steps to Manage Stress

1. Admit any feelings that you have

2. Try to identify the event that is the source of your stressful feeling

3. Identify what you can do to manage the stress by:

Remove the source of stress Remove yourself from the stressful situation Change your response to the stress Manage the stress by focusing on a part at a

time

Reducing the Negative Effects of

Stress

1. Practice relaxation techniques

2. Do something you enjoy

3. Keep a schedule that includes physical activity

4. Eat nutritious food

5. Get plenty of rest

Anger

Anger is an emotion that occurs when you feel wronged in some way

Anger is not always a negative emotion

It can be expressed in a way that is harmful such as blame others for their problems or try and get even

Steps for Handling Anger

1. Admit your anger

2. Identity the source of your anger

3. Identify your choices fro managing the situation

4. Discuss the situation with a close friend

5. Focus on the positive

6. Forgive and go on

Anxiety

Anxiety is the uneasy feeling people experience when they believe something terrible will happen

Normal Anxiety occurs when your recognize a threat and do something about it This is helpful when it gets people to respond

to a real concern

High Anxiety – keeps people from acting in a way that corrects the problem Example is freezing from fear

Handling Anxiety

The key to handling anxiety is to reduce it so you can respond to the problem 1. Recognize and accept your feelings

2. Look at the cause

How to work on controlling anxiety1. Build your self-esteem

2. Build relationships with people who support and encourage you

3. Learn techniques for relaxation

Depression

Depression is an overwhelming attitude of sadness, discouragement and hopelessness

Everyone will feel like this from time to time but if it is most of the time you may be experiencing depression

Causes of Depression

Mild cases might be due to a situation

More severe when a person suffers a major loss

Physical cause such as chemical imbalance, lack of sleep or poor diet

A pattern of negative thinking can lead to feelings of anger and self-pity, feeling sorry for yourself, can lead to negative thoughts and action. This could cause a deeper state of depression

Warning Signs of Depression page 83

Coping with Depression

For Mild cases of Depression Talking with trusted family friends Take a break from the daily routine

For more serve cases profession help should be sought

Suicide

Suicide is the act of taking one’s own life Considered by severely depressed person Often talked about ahead of time

SEEK HELP!! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WALK THROUGH THIS ALONE!!

Sex Roles and Stereotypes

Sex Roles are the culture’s definition of how male and females should behave

Stereotype is an oversimplified opinion or prejudiced attitude

Sex stereotype are widely held beliefs about the characteristics shared by all members of one sex

Sex Stereotype Characteristics page 84

Stereotypes and Mental Health

Stereotypes can result in negative attitudes when people do not measure up

Most people do not fit into rigid sex-role pattern. All people have unique human qualities and behaviors.