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Description

Find out how common mental health problems can stand in the way of young people from all walks of life.
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/inside-the-lines/
From the Scouts -> A Million Hands -> Mental Health Activities

Resources

Sticky tape
Sticky tack
Large sheets of paper
Large coloured marker pens

Instructions

Before you begin

The person leading the activity should tape several of the large sheets of paper together to make human-sized sheets. You will need enough paper that when everyone splits into groups, there will be one human-sized sheet per group.

Run the activity
Everyone should split into groups. Each group should be given a human-sized sheet of paper and a large marker pen.
Each group should spread their human-sized sheet on the floor and choose a member of the group to lie down on top of it, facing upward. The rest of the group should then use the pen to draw around the person lying on the paper to leave an outline of a human on the sheet.
If you do not have enough paper, or wish to use less, have the groups draw an outline of a human freehand on an A4 or A3 sheet.
Everyone should then come up with a life for their human outlines. Each group must give their human a name, describe what they’re like, set out their life goals and say what their hobbies and interests are. A member of the group should write this information on the human-sized sheet, inside the human outline. Each human should be a similar age to the members of the group.

The person leading the activity should supervise this. Make sure that the groups give their human a realistic personality and traits. They do not need to describe what the human looks like.
When everyone has finished, the person leading the activity should use the sticky tack to stick the human-sized sheets on the wall. Use more tape to help them stay up, where possible. One member of each group should introduce their human to the rest of the room, who should ask questions to find out as much as they can about this person.
The person leading the activity should write a new trait on each sheet as it is being displayed – ‘depression’ or ‘anxiety.’ Explain to the group that these are two of the most common mental health problems experienced by young people.
‘Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long time, and affects your everyday life. In its mildest form, depression can mean just being in low spirits. It doesn’t stop you leading your normal life, but makes everything harder to do and seem less worthwhile. At its most severe, depression can be life-threatening because it can make you feel suicidal. If you have depression, you might feel down, upset, or tearful. You might also find no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy.'
'Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural human response when we perceive that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. Most people feel anxious at times. It's particularly common to experience some anxiety while coping with stressful events or changes, especially if they could have a big impact on your life. Anxiety can become a mental health problem if it impacts on your ability to live your life as fully as you want to. For example, it may be a problem for you if: your feelings of anxiety are very strong or last for a long time, you avoid situations that might cause you to feel anxious, or your worries are upsetting and hard to control.’
The person leading the activity should ask the group how the human’s mental health issue might affect their life and wellbeing. Find out what the group thinks might be difficult for a human to do or say or feel while depressed or anxious. See what they think could be done to help them.

Tags

• A million hands

Badge Links

• Community Impact - Identify