Amy Poirier, foundation coordinator at Great Lakes Recovery Centers, accepts a grant on the behalf of her organization at the Superior Health Foundation's Fall Grants Awards Celebration on Oct. 24 at the Holiday Inn in Marquette. Jim LaJoie, executive director of the Superior Health Foundation, is pictured in the background. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)

MARQUETTE — Great Lakes Recovery Centers Inc. recently announced that it has received a $6,000 grant from the Superior Health Foundation to train 10 to 20 teachers from across the Upper Peninsula in the mental health and high school curriculum.

The eight-hour training will take place March 7 in Marquette, with the hope that it can be implemented this school year. An additional $2,000 was received from the Do it for Daniel Foundation so that stipends could be offered to help cover sub-pay and mileage.

According to the GLRC, the curriculum was developed by Dr. Stan Kutcher, professor of psychiatry at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. Through the curriculum, students will increase their understanding of mental health, mental health issues and mental illnesses.

This will help to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues and seeking help. Students will also learn coping strategies and how to encourage others to seek help. It is anticipated that through a greater understanding, mental health issues and suicidal ideation will be recognized and treatment can be sought so students can receive the help they need to be more successful in school and life.

Through data collected from implementing this curriculum in 106 districts in the state of Washington, 87 percent of students who received the curriculum increased their overall mental health literacy by 42 percent, and 66 percent of students decreased their stigmatizing attitudes.

The curriculum itself is made up of six modules that are taught over eight to 12 hours. The modules include: The Stigma of Mental Illness, Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness, Information on Specific Mental Illness, Experiences of Mental Illness, Seeking Help and Finding Support, and The Importance of Positive Mental Health.

These modules will work with the Michigan Model for Health. Students will learn about stigma, what it means and how it often acts as a barrier in seeking help for mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety. Learning about mental illness and their treatments can help to dispel misconceptions and stigma in regards to mental health. Students will learn about the way the brain controls thinking, emotions, behaviors and more. They will learn that mental illnesses have complex causes, including a biological basis, and are therefore not that different from other illnesses. They will learn that mental illnesses, like other illnesses, are treatable and the sooner people receive proper treatment and support, the better the outcomes.

Students will also learn that it is everyone’s responsibility to fight the stigma associated with mental illness as well as importance of positive mental health, skills and strategies to maintain good mental health, and coping skills.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five children ages 13-18, have or will have a serious mental illness and 50 percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Division for Vital Records & Health, the suicide rate among young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the U.P. is 14.2 per 100,000 residents.

That’s almost twice the state level of 7.9. By providing these youth services sooner, the chances of helping them increases, officials said.

For more information about the curriculum, visit teenmentalhealth.org. To learn how a school can access this training, contact Amy Poirier at 906-523-9688 or apoirier@greatlakesrecovery.org. To register for the training, visit www.solutionwhere.com /ww/maresa/.