Mental health issues are common among Australians, especially youth. Roughly 75% of mental illnesses emerge before age 25, with depression projected to be the leading global cause of disease burden by 2030. However, many youth do not receive treatment - only one in four children with mental health problems receives professional help. Positive emotions, social connections, and character strengths like gratitude are foundations of wellbeing that can help prevent mental illness and promote youth mental health.

2. Status Quo
• One in every five Australians experience a mental illness each year (ABS, 2009)
• One in four 16 to 24 year olds experiencing a mental health disorder in a 12 month period. (ABS, 2007).
• Roughly 75% of mental illness and substance abuse disorders emerge before 25 years of age, Half of all
lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 (Kessler et al, 2007).
• 1 in 4, 16/17 year old girls have self harm (Lawrence et al, 2015)
• Suicide is currently the leading cause of death in Australia for those aged 15 – 24 with 362 deaths recorded
in Australia for this age group in 2014 (AIHW, 2015).
• in the average Year 12 classroom, one young person would have atempted suicide. (AIHW, 2007).

3. • Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and projected
to be the LEADING CAUSE OF THE DISEASE BURDEN GLOBALLY by
2030 (World Health Organisation, 2015.)

4. Treatment
• Mental health is one of Australia’s nine National Health Priority Area (Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2013).
• The Australian Psychological Society (2012) recommended that the student: psychologist ratio should not
exceed 500 students for one full time psychologist.
• In Australia approximately 14% of children and adolescents have mental health problems and only one in
four receives professional help (De Jong & Griffiths 2008).
• Only 23 % of those aged 16 – 24 years who experienced a mental disorder in the preceding 12 months
accessed health services (AIHW, 2011).
• 70% of young women and 80% of young men who experience a mental illness are receiving no help at all.
(Slade et al, 2009).

5. Workplace Distress
• 1st biggest risk factor: feeling overworked
• 2nd biggest risk factor: feeling undervalued
• “When teachers become burned out, or worn out, their students’ achievement outcomes are likely to suffer
because they are more concerned with their personal survival.” (Hane, 2013)
• “You can’t expose kids to languishing adults and expect them to flourish” (Keyes, 2002)

6. INNOCULATION STRATEGY

7. • HEALING WELLNESS

8. TWO FACTOR MODEL

9. DETERMINANTS OF HAPPINESS

10. WELLBEING

11. WHAT IS WELLBEING?
The combination of feeling good, functioning
well and doing good for others
(Rusk and Waters, 2015)

12. Ryff and Singer(2008) Core Dimensions of
Psychological Well being

13. Rath and Harper(2010) Five Essenetial
Elements of Wellbeing

14. Seligman (2012) PERMA

15. New Economic Foundation

16. Rusk and Waters (2015) 6 Domains of Positive
Functioning

17. Increased social and emotional skillls. Decreased emotional stress
Reduced anxiety/ depression Increased positive mood
Function and cope better Increased resilience
Increased connection Improved attitude
Increased motivation Increased creativity
Better concentration Increased life/ job satisfaction
Increased engagement to learning/ work

18. EMOTIONS

19. EMOTIONS
Emotions influence everyday life, including:
• Attention, memory, and learning
• Decision making and judgment
• Relationship quality
Physical and mental health
• Everyday effectiveness and performance
• (Brackee, 2015).

20. Labelling Emotions
• Having and using a sophisticated vocabulary to describe the full range
of emotions
• Name it to tame it
• It builds self-awareness
• It helps to create a “mental model” for different emotions (e.g., what
disappointment and anger look like so we can identify when they
exist)
• It helps us to communicate our needs and reduce miscommunication
• It helps us think about how to regulate the emotion

21. Regulating Emotions
Emotion Regulation involves having goals to:
• Enhance an emotion(boost self-confidence before a sports event!)
• Prevent an unwanted emotion (avoid anxiety before a test)!
• Reduce an unwanted emotion (decrease hostility toward a
classmate)”
• Initiate a desired emotion (generate empathy for a peer in need)”
Maintain an emotion (hold onto pride about your accomplishment)”

22. Short Term Regulation
• Breathing
• Mindfulness/relaxation Positive self-talk
• Positive reappraisal
• Acceptance
• Visualization
• Distraction (short-term)
• Physical space/distance

23. Longer Term
Meditation Spirituality
Healthy eating Better sleep habits
Exercise (running, walking, yoga) Constructive activity (reading,
cooking, painting) Entertainment (music, television,)
Finding support from others Focusing on solving the problem
Working hard to achieve a goal Modifying the situation
Shifting or changing the goal Taking action for a cause or social issue
Seeking professional counseling

24. Broaden and Build
• Emotions are purposeful
• Flight, Fight, Fright: much more focused on ourselves, narrow focus
• Positive emotions: when feeling good we broaden our focus
• Cognitive benefits – increased creativity, more accurate brain
storming, seeing the larger picture

25. The Undo Effect
• Pleasant emotions undo the physiological after effects of unpleasant
emotions.

26. The Tetris Effect

27. Positivity Ratio

28. Nature

29. Play

30. Fun Theory

31. Three Good Things
• Write down 3 good things that have happened this week.
• What was this good thing?
• Why did this good thing happened?
• What does this good thing means to you?
• What you can do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing?
• What ways do you or others contribute to this good thing?

32. Bucket Fillers

33. Positive Detective Campaign

34. Gratitude
• The practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by around
25%.
• People who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more
regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their
lives, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week.
• Cultivating gratitude brings health benefits such as longer and better
quality of sleep.
• Gratitude helps you recover more quickly from stress, adversity and
trauma.
• One of the strongest predictors of positive mental health.

35. Gratitude
• Gratitude Journal
• Gratitude letter
• Gratitude photos
• Daily thank you text or email