What’s the Deal? Great chapter to kick off the conversation about people's experiences with anxiety, including potential causes and why it is so hard to talk about especially when we all have anxiety.
Anxiety Doesn’t Discriminate: We all have anxiety. It’s part of the human condition. Discuss how school may be a cause of anxiety and what potential changes may decrease these feelings.
I Don’t Remember When All the Worrying Started: Discuss how anxiety feels to experience and how to work through these feelings when they arise. It’s okay to say and ask for help.
Panic Attack: Discuss how to open up the conversation about mental health and create learning opportunities on how to help each other.
I Feel Like I Can’t Control Anything: Discuss what situations cause people anxiety or feelings of loss of control, as well as ways to cope other than avoidance.
It’s Just a Stomach Ache: Discuss how anxiety manifests itself as physical symptoms in the body and how to work through them.
Anxiety Takes Many Forms: Discuss how to support others and how to identify and seek help with mental health challenges.
You Don’t Have Anxiety You’re Just Anxious: Discuss how to check in with others about mental health, and how to begin dialogue with guardians, trusted adults, and caregivers.
Take a Break, Reboot and Jump Back: Discuss strategies, tips, and tricks for decreasing the occurrence of and/or coping with anxiety.
Talk to People: Discuss how to have safe and positive engagements with ourselves and others, in an effort to feel better on a daily basis and create happy spaces.
Be a Good Friend: Discuss how to show to others that we care and how to improve our listening skills.
It Gets Better: Discuss what defines us as a person beyond mental health, as well as how we can show our acceptance of, and appreciation for, others.
Angst Screening Discussion: Short prompts for guided self-reflection following a viewing of the film.
3 Breaths and 3 Wishes: Short pick-me-up mindfulness activity to slow down, refocus, and remind yourself what matters.
So What Then? Turning negative thought into positive action by acknowledging the thought, rationalizing the situation, and reaching a positive conclusion (“I’ll be okay”; “I’ll learn something”; “I believe in myself”).
Goodbye to ‘Can’t’ and ‘Try’: Empowering ourselves through language—learning to reframe our thoughts with selective word choice (i.e. erasing ‘can’t’ and transforming ‘try’).
My Attitude is Gratitude: Reflection activity to consider what gratitude means to us, what we is grateful for in our lives, and how we can express our gratitude for those things/people.
The Worry Jar: Interactive activity to help manage our fears by writing them down, distancing ourselves from them, and then returning with a friend to collectively work through them and find workable solutions.
Confronting Our Fears: Learning to confront our fears through an action plan and with the help of a support system.
Bedtime Seeds: Bedtime ritual activity to reflect on the positive aspects of each day—to strengthen internal confidence and build long-term motivation.