Mental Health Champion Training – By Harriet Year 10

Mental Health Champion training was a day where we learnt how to cope with our own mental health and how to help others who may be struggling. We learnt the different stages of mental health and how to get help and get better. There were so many different activities throughout the day and it encouraged everyone to get involved. At the beginning of the day everyone would stay within their friends but it wasn’t long before we were up on our feet engaging with each other and sharing our thoughts. Everyone made others feel heard and no one felt misunderstood. Whenever someone had something to say everyone would listen with respect.

What we learnt

We learnt so much from each other and from the teacher. We now understand how to help someone who is in need of the help and how to listen with them knowing they aren’t alone. We now know the different stages of mental health and the symptoms of mental disorders people may be experiencing. We also learnt how the brain works and the different parts of it that makes you the person you are. Did you know, 2% of your body weight is your brain and 20% of energy is consumed everyday by your brain. We also learnt the ‘tapping technique’ when feeling stressed or anxious and we did breathing exercises too.

The activities we did

In the first session we looked into what mental health is, how the brain works and the things you need to do and avoid,  to have a positive impact on your emotions . In the second session we explored the 10 different skills we need to be a mental health champion. We played true or false about scenarios of the brain and what people May say to do with mental health. In the third session we learnt about the different mental disorders and how to spot when someone is struggling and the symptoms of the disorders. In the fourth session we looked deeper into breathing strategies and tapping techniques to do when you’re struggling. After this, we went to the outdoor education section and stood by a firepit  to discuss calming strategies. We all enjoyed it as we were singing together and bonding over so many different things. It was such a positive way to get together and listen to each other. In the last session we made sensory bottles which were made of water clear glue and glitter, this is a calming thing for people who may be experiencing stress and anxiety.

Comments from other students about the day

“The day was really fun as we connected with other mental health champions. It was also really interesting to learn about how to spot mental health disorders and how to help people going through them”

“It was really calming”

“I loved learning how to cope under certain scenarios”

“It helped me understand how to cope with my emotions and how to help others”

“It was really engaging”

“We learnt about healthy ways to help ourselves and others”