So a couple days ago was world mental health day, which shows that mental health is something that people are starting to talk about. Although this is the first step there is still a stigma associated with it. The tendency to not reach out may be particularly prevalent among teens especially when they have not seen adults model the right way to talk about self-care and mental health. The good news is that we as parents and educators can overcome the stigma of talking about mental health by practicing mental health activities for high school students.

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Why Mental Health is Important?

The short answer is because it is affecting so many teenagers in our world. 1 and 5 teens 13-18 have or will have a serious mental health issue in their lives. Also, 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness start by age 14 and 75% by age 24. On the aspect of suicide, Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in teens and 90% of those teens who committed suicide had an underlying mental health issue. An Infographic from the National Alliance on Mental Illness contains even more information on this topic. This is also a great video that talks more about mental health and how leaders and students alike need to consider it.

What is Self- Care and Mental Health

Taking care of yourself can have major effects on mental health. Stress is one of the things that can affect our mental health. Teens have a huge amount of stress in their lives. Sometimes this stress causes them to not take care of themselves. They may forgo sleep to get homework done. They may stop working out or withdraw from social situations. All of these things, however, help them stay balanced mentally. So if teens are not getting sleep, withdrawing, or are not exercising they are actually more stressed than they would have been otherwise, and this makes them spiral down. Taking care of themselves makes them better mentally able to handle stress. The good news is there are mental health activities we can do with teens to help them see how to practice self-care.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students #1: Get Rid of the Stigma

One of the first things that we need to do with high schoolers is to try to get rid of the stigma that is associated with mental illness. Although, we cannot get rid of all the ill feelings surrounding mental illness we can help students understand it better by talking about it. Students need to understand that this is a very real issue that they can talk about.

Those who struggle with mental health issues need to know that they are not alone in these struggles. It is so easy for them to think they are alone in their issues and that makes their mental health spiral down even more. For those, who don’t struggle they need to know the signs to better help those who do struggle. Talking about mental health can get rid of the belief that I need to suffer through this alone or that I don’t know what to do to help others.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students # 2: Taking A Mental Health Quiz

As a starting point with high school students taking a mental health quiz will help you and them see where they stand on their mental health. They may not even realize that the issues that are listed on this quiz are part of their mental health. This quiz is directed at 7-9th graders, but overall this quiz could work for all grade levels. Once they take this quiz then you can work through lessons with them that correspond to their answers on this quiz.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students #3: The Mental Health Kit

So the same people that put forth the quiz listed in step 2 also have put together a set of lessons for grades 7-9, but once again many of the topics can work for older students as well. They call this the Mental Health Kit. For all the grade levels there is so much useful information that applies to all teenagers not just those in grades 7-9. Going through these lessons with your students will significantly help them be informed about mental health for both others and themselves. This is a great activity to get your students talking about their mental health.

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Mental Health Activities for High School Students #4: Setting Limits

Often times when we think of limits when it comes to high school students we think of the kids that have too many activities. For those students, it is important to let them know that they cannot do all of those things and function as a human. If they are going to be in drama, dance, sports, church, ap classes, have a part-time job, function as part of your family, etc. then they are going to burn out. It is important to help them understand the importance of setting priorities and if they have to quit a couple of activities, so they can get enough sleep and do well in school and life that will not be the end of the world.

However, most students do not have nearly as many activities as we may think they do. There is a whole group of students that have no after-school activities. Other students especially those with mental health problems may withdraw from their activities. Withdrawing from activities that your children once loved is a sign that something is going on. These students with nothing else to do will often turn to electronics to fill in the time. The problem with this is that it can actually hurt many aspects of their lives and mental health in the long run. For these students limits look like, your phones are going to be taken away at certain times, or video games can only be played one hour a week, etc. If you have a child that is withdrawing from activities maybe limits look like you need to be involved in at least one activity. It doesn’t have to be the one you were doing, but you have to be social in some way.

However, something to know about this generation of high school students is that they believe that they should be involved in discussions like this. Setting limits on your kids without having discussions with them where they are able to speak into the process and talk about how they are feeling, why they turn to different things, why they are withdrawing, why they like being overscheduled etc. will just make them want to rebel against those limits. They also don’t understand where you are coming from and how you care if you are opposing limits without talking to them. Setting limits with high-schoolers needs to happen through direct conversations with them. They still may not be happy, but they will know you care and for students that is one of the most important things.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students #5: Mood Trackers

Another great mental health activity for high school students is mood trackers. There are a couple ways you can do this many of them can have beautiful pictures etc. That is not needed basically you direct your students to everyday color a box or something that shows how they are feeling that day. They can have different colors for different emotions. There is something powerful about seeing how your mood was over a month it helps you see where your emotions are leading and going. 

Some students may need to break down their day into several different parts. The reason to track your mood multiple times a day is that people can be prone to let one thing ruin their entire day. So if something happened in the afternoon that affected their mood the rest of the day they can see that their morning was actually going well.

At the end of every day though they should reflect on how their mental state was that day. This allows them one to think about why they feel the way they do. For those with mental health issues reflecting over the week or over the month can help them see if they are getting worse so they can reach out to people. Often times those with mental illness may feel themselves getting worse but they realize it too late or won’t reach out to others even when they are. These trackers can help them realize when they need to reach out to others.

If you are wanting a premade tracker a really good one is this mood tracker planner it allows students to be able to track their mood over the course of the week and the course of a month. Everything is pre-made and it is useful for them to see their mood and they don’t have to actually draw something up themselves in a journal which can be really helpful to students.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students # 9: Gratitude Journals 

Sorta like mood trackers is incredibly easy for high schoolers to not remember what to be grateful for. It really hard for almost everyone to do this. Those that struggle with mental health are no exception. However, if one journal about the things that they are thankful for they are able to go back to those things and read them when things are feeling down. It also can change someone’s mood when they think of the good things that happened during the day instead of the bad. I saw this one thing that said was it really a bad day or was it a bad 10 minutes that you milked all day. Teenagers are extremely affected by the things that happen around them and when one bad thing happens it can throw off their entire day. Gratitude journals help them see the good in the day.

A couple of gratitude journals that I would suggest are The Five Minute Journal and The Daily Gratitude Journal. If your teens like structure a little more and want more guidance The Five Minute Journal will give them more of a structured experience. However, I know for some high school students too much structure may add even more anxiety in which case I would suggest The Daily Gratitude Journal it is less structured and if they miss a day it doesn’t feel like a big deal because nothing is dated.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students #7: Mindful Coloring 

Adult coloring pages have been on the rise and there is a good reason for this they actually reset your mind. Coloring can help you destress.  Not only does it help with anxiety it can also improve your sleep and your focus. High school students need all of these things and that is why mindful coloring can be so beneficial for their mental health. Mindful coloring can help high school students focus in school and beyond. Mindful coloring pages are a great thing for teachers to incorporate into their lessons and some students may even benefit from doing them during lectures as they help some students have better focus. If you are looking for just a couple pages that you can make copies of over and over I have some great ones on my teachers pay teachers store called Mindful Coloring Pages. These are so perfect for coloring over and over and super easy to print out as a teacher for students. 

If you would rather have an entire book for your teens to color at home. I would suggest this three-pack of coloring books. There are so many different pages and your teens will be able to pick from animals, scenery, or geometric designs. It will definitely keep them calm and busy for a long time.

Mental Health Activities for High School Students #8: Being a Safe Space

Lastly and probably the best activity is assuring your students and kids that you are a safe space. They can come to you when things are getting worse for them and you won’t judge that. You can be someone that will get them back on track. If students know they can come to you they may not always come to you, but they will know you are there if they need someone. Assuring them you are a safe space is included in all the activities above.

Talk about Mental Health Your Students Lives May Depend on It

As stated above suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens. 90% of those who commit suicide have some kind of mental issue. Knowing the signs, monitoring it, helping them with their own mental health is needed to help teens survive. Make sure that your teens know that you are a safe person to talk to so overall we can help get rid of the stigma associated with mental illness.

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