Fourth Edition, September 2011

Educational implications
Students with eating disorders may have diffi
culty concentrating, and may complain of not having any 
energy to participate in activities. Absences from school may result in students falling behind.
Eating Disorders:
What Teachers Can Do

Encourage class discussions about positive self-image. 

Avoid lessons that focus solely on eating and dieting, as these can reinforce negative 
body images.

Referral to school counsellor if you suspect a student has an eating disorder.

Encouragement, caring, and persistence, as well as information about the dangers of 
eating disorders, may be needed to convince the young person to get help and stay in 
treatment.
More information
Canadian Paediatric Society
www.caringforkids.cps.ca/teenhealth/DietingInfo.htm
National Eating Disorders Information Centre
www.nedic.ca
National Institute of Mental Health
www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml

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J 1
Psychosis
Making a Diff erence: An Educators’ Guide to Child and Youth Mental Health Problems
www.cymhin.ca
Psychosis
Psychosis is a serious medical condition in which a person has trouble telling the diff erence between 
what is real and what is not; symptoms such as delusions and/or hallucinations (see below) can signify 
this struggle. Initially, psychosis may also present with more subtle changes in behaviour, such that a 
person ‘just doesn’t seem to be acting like their normal self’.
Psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, commonly occur in men in their late teens and 
early 20s, and in women, in their mid-20s to early 30s; they rarely occur before puberty or after age 45.
First episode psychosis refers to the fi rst time that a person outwardly shows symptoms of psychosis. 
These symptoms may be very distressing for both the individual and their family. Symptoms which can 
result in bizarre or unusual behaviour include:

Delusions: fi xed, false beliefs, which do not have a basis in reality. There are many types of delusions, 
some quite bizzare. Paranoid delusions are one common type, where a person may become suspi-
cious of others and afraid of being spied on, followed, or harmed by others.

Hallucinations: seeing things (visual hallucinations) or hearing things (auditory hallucinations) that 
aren’t there.