Grade 7: Mile 5: Mental Health Stigma Reduction Initiative this week at GWMS

This week all of our grade 7 students are taking part in Mile 5: Mental Health Stigma Reduction Initiative

In today's lesson students:

• reviewed as a class some of what we learned can contribute to mental illness,
• practiced having an auditory hallucination, which means hearing voices
• watched a video and practice safe sharing while we ask questions.
• learned about factors that contribute to the development of mental illness

Some facts the students learned about Mental Health are:

• Nobody is quite sure of the exact cause of mental illness, but most current research suggests it has something to do with the chemistry of the brain.
• Substance Abuse like MARJUANA can lead to SCHIZOPHRENIA.
• Traumatic Life Events like a car crash because of the stress and change they cause in the person’s life.
• Heredity Factors which means how our brain works is passed down from our parents.
• Stress can be good for us because it makes us motivated, but it can be bad if there is too much of it for too long. Health stress helps you study for a test.
• Other illnesses or injuries can lead to mental illness because they also cause stress. Support and Treatment Options

A few students were asked: What do you like about MILE5 Training? Here are their responses.

It's good to learn about people who have mental illness - Hartley 

I think it can teach us A lot it's really helpful and fun to learn about -Hudson 

It teaches us a lot about mental illness and I think people should learn more about that-
Rebecca

The Mile 5: Mental Health Stigma Reduction Initiative runs all week. Each grade 7 class has it one period per afternoon. Ask your child what they learned about Mental Health?

It is important to learn how to take care of your mental health. Get the facts about mental illness. Find help for yourself or others. For more resources please visit the Canadian Mental Health  Association webpage at http://winnipeg.cmha.ca/.