Self+Respect

**Self Respect ( mutilation, cutting, alcohol, dress, suicide / depression, body dysmorphia, modesty – no grinding at dances)** Members: Maggie Off, Sue Brady, Val Schifeling ** Suicide and Depression media type="youtube" key="TXPU8rXmP_A" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="CmHVyd-MzqM" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="g-Nh93Z5wSU" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="aDGevmhIN4M" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="kbw5u-Y_pMs" height="344" width="425"

1.What is the difference between feeling sad and depressed? 2.What methods can one use to snap out of sadness? 3. Do you or anyone you know have feelings of sadness or depression 4.What can you do to help yourself or others with these feelings?
 * Depression**

1. Have you or anyone you know had thoughts of suicide? 2. How did you/they deal with these thoughts 3.What can you do to help someone with these thoughts?
 * Suicide**

Self-harm media type="youtube" key="4g0K-ri3yv0" height="344" width="425" Questions: 1. Explain what was happening in Renee's life that might have caused her to harm herself? 2. Describe what steps the group took to help heal Renee? 3. Discuss some ways to cope with issues in your life that you may find stressful.


 * Modesty**



media type="youtube" key="rhm0QY6_hOs" height="344" width="425" Somebody Should have Taught him Submitted by: [|Fearless_714]//Author: Unknown// I want to a birthday party But I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink at all, So I had a sprite instead. I felt proud of myself, The way you said I would, That I didn’t choose to drink and drive, Though some friends said I should. I knew I made a healthy choice and your advice to me was right as the party finally ended and the kids drove out of sight. I got into my own car, Sure to get home in one piece, Never knowing what was coming, Something I expected least. Now I’m lying on the pavement. I can hear the policeman say, “The kid that cause this wreck was drunk.” His voice seems far away. My own blood is all around me, As I try hard not to cry. I can hear the paramedic say, “This girl is going to die.” I’m sure the guy had no idea, While he was flying high, because he chose to drink and drive that I would have to die. So why do people do it, Knowing that it ruins lives? But now the pain is cutting me Like a hundred stabbing knives. Tell my sister not to be afraid, Tell Daddy to be brave. And when I go to heaven to Put ‘Daddy’s Girl’ on my grave. Someone should have taught him That it’s wrong to drink and drive. Maybe if his mom and dad had, I’d still be alive. My breath is getting shorter, I’m getting really scared. These are my final moments, And I’m so unprepared. I wish that you could hold me, Mom, As I lie here and die. I wish that I could say I love you and good-bye.
 * Teen drinking:**

media type="custom" key="4234665" Questions: 1. Why do teens feel the need to drink? 2. What are the consequences of drinking? 3. How did you feel when you read the poem? **Body Image

Gabby, You're Sooo Skinny

My name is Gabriella, and I am 17. I am a straight-A student. I am very involved in school activities and considered a "very together" teenager. Or at least, I was.

It all started innocently enough. I weighed about 125 pounds. I was not fat, but I felt I could stand to lose a few pounds. A friend of mine had gone on a health kick and was getting great results from it -- she was losing weight, she felt better and her friends were telling her how great she looked. I wanted to feel that way, too.

I began exercising and eating healthy snacks instead of the usual Coke and chips in front of the TV. Within a couple of weeks I had lost weight, I was feeling good, I cared more about what I wore and started feeling attractive in a way I had not experienced before. I would go to school and it seemed like everyone noticed. "Gabby, you look great," "Gabby, you look so beautiful," and "Gabby, you're so skinny." I didn't think anything felt as good as those comments.

I was raised with the message that there is always room for improvement, so I figured if five pounds gets this much notice, just think what 10 will do! If cutting back to 1,000 calories works, imagine 500! I figure that was the moment I took off down the road to anorexia.

My previous successes didn't feel as good to me as the success of this weight thing. I think it had something to do with the control I felt I had. I lost weight at a fast rate, and every time I lost a pound I was elated. It was a euphoria that I became addicted to. I lived for that feeling.

I remember the first day I went the whole day without eating. When I got into bed that night I felt this emptiness in my stomach. But I also felt a thinness: a feeling I had come to connect with achievement and success. I thought, if I can go a whole day without eating, then why not two?

Many days I do just that. In fact, I can now go three days without eating. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but it was sudden and total. No one said nice things to me and no one was complimenting me. I started feeling that I was failing and needed to try harder. I needed to lose more weight; I would have to get serious now!

I now have days where all I eat is an apple, then go to bed at night feeling like a failure, feeling fat. Many times any food in my stomach feels like too much. It feels dirty and disgusting. I get down on myself for being so weak. Maybe if I just control myself a little more, it would get better. The truth is, all happiness slipped away long ago.

A part of me knows this is wrong, but that part of me is out of reach. Teachers, school nurses, friends -- they all suspect I have a problem. I blow them off and say I'm fine. I wonder if they really believe me, or if they can really help. I feel like I'm starting to lose it. I don't know what to do.

Gabrielle Torres (age 17)

Questions 1. Who do eating disorders effect?** some points to bring up in discussion of #1 Eating disorders have long been a serious problem among people of all ages. However, this disease usually begins somewhere in the **pre-teen stages** of life, and although many adolescent boys suffer with this disorder, it usually affects and is much more severe in teenage **girls**.

People who do suffer from an eating disorder like to place blame on factors such as television and family life-styles. Although these situations do influence eating disorders, the **basis for** this disease lies within the person whom it is affecting.

Most teenage **girls and boys** who suffer from an eating disorder usually are unhappy with themselves and their own performance in life. With teenage girls, eating disorders may arise if they do **not succeed** in activities such as cheerleading or gymnastics, or if they do not seem to **attract** the attention of boys. Many girls believe that they cannot be beautiful unless they are thin, sometimes due to naturally thin girls that surround them both in real life and in fashion. For boys, causes may also result from sports that are weight orientated like wrestling.

There are **two types** of eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The teenager who is anorexic will place herself on what she considers to be a **“strict diet.”** This diet usually involves cutting down calorie intake to an absurd level. The average person should consume around 1500 calories a day - an **anorexic teenager** will gauge her daily intake anywhere between a few hundred to less than 100 calories.

The **bulimic teen** will usually try to restrict her diet. However, if she feels that she has eaten too much, she will induce vomiting or over-consume laxatives. Frequently, this sets off **a pattern of** binge eating and purging.

**2. Do you know a Gabby? What could you do to help them? 3. What are the other consequences of bulimia and anorexia?** some answers to # 3
 * Osteoporosis
 * Muscle atrophy
 * Heart muscle shrinkage and irregular heart beats
 * In adolescence, growth retardation and peak bone mass reduction
 * Frequently co-occurs with depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders
 * Common causes of [|death] are cardiac arrest or electrolyte imbalance, or [|suicide]


 * Dehydration
 * Heart and gastrointestinal problems
 * Teeth erosion
 * Electrolyte disturbances, irregular heart beats, and heart failure
 * Laxative dependence