Hello families,
On Thursday, the middle school viewed the movie "Angst" and then had some time to come back to advisory to chat and debrief. The movie is advocating for open discussion about anxiety and for students to understand that it exists in everyone, but in different levels. I wore many hats as a viewer of this film. As a parent and a teacher, this film moved me in so many ways and made me realize how positive relationships with students are the most important parts of teaching. Here are my notes from the film: "Angst" was made for all of us to notice anxiety and to help and support it. Some levels are a result from working outside our comfort zone: like a first date or the first day of school. This film was created to help advocate for those whose levels breech that growth zone. Anxiety does not discriminate. Clinical anxiety needs to part of our discussions so we understand those who can't push through the impulses that cause your brain to think counter-intuitively to what they rationally know to be true. For example, walking into a new classroom full of new people. We know it to be okay uncomfortable, but okay. However, it can cause high levels of anxiety and they cannot enter that class. The film talked about panic attacks: when the body shuts down, and we sweat, breathe heavily, our heart beat increases, and we can feel paralyzed. We can become paralyzed, we literally freeze up. This is caused by "living in the amygdala". This fight-or-flight mechanism takes over and we are not able to organize information. It can be referred to as "Amygdala Hijack Situation". The film then went on to talk about avoidance. We often seek control by avoiding the things that scare us. In the moment, avoidance is perhaps the best way we see to deal with anxiety. The movie suggests that if we know this, then we can hopefully choose to stay, breathe, and know that the anxiety is temporary. "Escape is not the best way to deal with anxiety." Then, the movie talked about anxiety manifesting itself as physical ailments, such as stomach aches. It told how our cortisol increases (our natural steroids) and then hydrochloric acid gets released in our stomachs causing it to hurt. Support! We need to recognize anxiety, normalize the fact that we have many stimuli going on and we must move past the stigmas regarding anxiety as a thing that is wrong with our character. Anxiety can be out of our control. We must encourage people to speak up to get help. "Name it to tame it." We must listen, get educated, and not rush to judgement. The film spoke of how we must try to push our anxious thoughts from the amygdala to the "front" of our brain where we deal with executive functioning. There, we understand cause and effect. We can rationalize the anxious thoughts and hopefully overcome them. Certain methods mentioned mindfulness practices: the stress breath, ice cubes in our hands, focusing on the click of a clock, , shifting the focus of our eyes from near to far, going to a safe and special place, reading, journaling, and drawing. All of these exercises are meant to shift our mind, to rewire our brains and "engage" in neuro-plasticity. When emotions go unspoken, we give them power. The movie encouraged us say something, to talk to some one. If you confide in someone, you share the burden and then know that some one is aware of what is going on. The film wrapped with a quote from one of the teenagers: "Feeling loved. That will help me get through this most." As part of the curriculum, follow-up discussion questions were offered to get the conversations going. First, we simply asked, "What did you think?" It was good for us to see so we can talk about it. My family doesn't talk about this stuff. I know about this stuff. I turn to the logic. Sometimes, asking for help can come out in weird ways and don't even know what it is.... that you are asking for help. I am emotional about lots of things. I can get angry, then I get sad, I cry, then I am frustrated that I am not being heard. Why do you think that anxiety levels are at an all-time high amongst all age groups? Social media. We now may have a better definition so that we can diagnose it more accurately. More school work. Higher expectations of younger people. We have more responsibilities. High school pressures. Why do you think the teenagers in the film chose to talk about their anxiety? To help other people learn from what they went through. What did you learn about anxiety from this film? The physical stuff. The pain is real, but I didn't realize that the cause of some pains was the feelings and the anxiety. Do you feel you know enough to manage anxiety in ourselves? No. Yes. Maybe. Sometimes. Do you know where to go for help? Family. Closest friends. On-line support groups. Advisors. Nurses. Ms. Yao. We will continue to have conversations with the students about the film, their anxieties, their journeys. We reiterated how all the adults in this community are here to help in any way we can. Thank you for trusting us with your children. This work is so valuable and I appreciate the opportunity to explore and discuss these topics with your children. Thank you, Putnam & Laura
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February 2019
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