Emma and I created a survey concerning mental heath, for students to take around the school. We then analyzed our results and concluded that stigma around the school is low but still evident. This lab was done in order to fight stigma against mental health by first understanding how much of it is really present in Whistler Secondary School. Question: Is there stigma around mental illness at our school? Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to study the stigma towards mental illness around our school. Reducing stigma requires a change in behaviors and attitudes toward acceptance, respect, and equitable treatment of people with mental health problems and mental illnesses. To confront to the stigma around mental illness we first need to know how much of an issue it really is. Background information: Stigma is a strong feeling of disapproval that many people in our society have for people being categorized as different or out of the “norm”. Every year, one in five Canadians experience a mental health problem or illness. That’s about 7 million people. Despite how common it is, mental illness continues to be stigmatized: in hospitals, workplaces, and schools; in rural and urban communities; even among close friends and families. The prejudice that comes along with stigma has been said to be nearly as bad as the disorder symptoms themselves. Hypothesis: We, both being students in a psychology class, are aware of what mental health is. We would expect the students at Whistler Secondary School to know a proper definition of mental health, however, the students might be less educated on the subject than we are. Materials:
Method:
Data: Answers in total: 105 Question 1: Is mental illness something we should be concerned about? Question 2: Do you know someone personally, with a mental illness? Students that answered no to question 1: Question 3: What is mental illness? Results: For the first question in our survey, 90% of the students answered that we should be concerned about mental health. 8.6% of the students answered that we shouldn't be concerned. The other 1% was unsure. For the second question, 63% of the students knew someone personally with a mental illness and 35% of the students did not know someone with a mental illness. The other 4% of the students weren’t sure if they knew someone with a mental illness. Interestingly, from the students that answered no to the first question 78% of the students knew someone with a mental illness. For the last question, our answers varied because we asked a question that would result in qualitative data. Surprisingly, 11% of the students that took the survey did not know what mental was. 74% of the students could give an example of a mental illness or a proper definition of mental health. Only 7% of the students answered with a stigma inducing response. Analysis: In the school, it appears that the stigma around mental health is low but still evident. With 90% of the surveyees saying that mental illness should be a concern, it shows that people are aware of the topic; however, the answers to question 3 shows that there is still a percentage in our school that is unsure or can’t explain what mental illness is. This may be because of a lack of education about mental health. 63% of the students that participated in the survey knew someone personally that struggled with a mental illness. These students may be more educated on the subject of mental health since it directly impacts their lives. 77% of the students that answered no to question 1 know someone personally with a mental illness. There is someone in their life that is struggling, yet they have no concern for the issue. There may be personal reasons for this answer; however, this lack of concern can lead to stigmatizing behavior. For the last question, it was interesting to see the diverse array of responses. Many people were able to give examples of mental illnesses or relate it to a medical problem rather than emotional. These are the people that could help educate the uneducated. Conclusion: In Whistler Secondary School, our results suggest that the stigma around mental health is low but still noticeable. Most students that took the survey knew what mental health was, could give an example of a mental illness and believed that mental health was something that we should be concerned about. This serves to show that our hypothesis was correct because we assumed that the students at Whistler Secondary School would be able to come up with an acceptable definition of what mental health is and that we should be concerned about mental health. However, contrary to our beliefs, many students could not answer the third question, gave an incorrect definition or answered with a stigma inducing response. These results demonstrate that we need still need to educate people on mental health and the issues surrounding it. Now that we understand the level of stigma surrounding mental illness in our school, it is easier to battle the issue. We noticed that when we were going from class to class collecting the surveys, conversations were starting among peers on the subject of mental health. Talking about mental health and making people aware of what it is, is the first step in overcoming and fighting the stigma around mental health. Source of error: The third question in our survey could only be answered with qualitative data which is very difficult to properly group into different categories when analyzing the issue. This could have potentially led to vague categories and to results that would differ if we had grouped the answers differently. Questions for further investigation:
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In this assignment I kept track of everything that had been stressing me out during a particular week. I then reflected on my stresses and analyzed which coping mechanism I had used. The intention of this project was to help us better understand how stress impacts our lives and how to help us cope with our stresses. 4/6/18
I had a socials test the next morning and I had forgotten my notes at school Analysis:
I texted a friend and she sent me pictures of all the notes 5/6/18 I was home alone and my dog wouldn’t stop barking Analysis:
I ended up calling my friend who comforted me and told me that I was safe inside my house 5/6/18 I had to clean my kitchen before my parents got home Analysis
I started at one end of my kitchen and cleaned everything and made my way across 6/6/18 I was at the athletic banquet and I had to study for a math test the next morning Analysis
I came home and studied and practiced doing hard math problems to get ready for my test 7/6/18 I had to meet my second cousin for the first time Analysis:
I took some deep breaths which helped me relax 10/11/18 I was sitting on my computer thinking about how much work at still had to do before the end of the year. Analysis:
I wrote down everything I had to do before the end of the school year and planned out when I was going to do everything. It seems that I get stressed when I am put in an uncomfortable or sudden situation. I realized that I tend to overthink things and I tend to believe that the worst will occur in any stressful situations. events that I am unable to control or that require a lot of work tend to make me the most stressed. For example, when I had forgotten my notes at school I had no way of getting them so it made me extremely anxious. When I get stressed I usually get fidgety, my stomach tightens and I get really nervous. To help me cope with my stress I tend to use problem-solving and active coping the most often. I have found that trying to resolve the issue right away helps me feel more relax and even if I don’t finish everything that night, I go to bed knowing that I accomplished something. The main stressor in my life is school, I am constantly thinking about missing work and projects I have to complete. To cope with the stresses that are associated with the school is very difficult because once you are finished with one task you are assigned another. I believe that I need to start being more aware of my stresses and instead of worrying, I need to find a way to resolve the issue. Monitoring my stresses made me realize that often time I stress over unnecessary things. It was really eye-opening to look back on what had stressed me over the week. I think this project hasn’t really made a difference towards what makes me stressed but it has made me more aware of what actually stresses me out and how to cope with these stressful situations. 1. Do students experience more stress than adults?
2. Why are people more educated on physical health than mental health? 3. What could be done to lower stress on students in schools? |
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