Mental Health

MENTAL HEALTH

BLACK DOG INSTITUTE

BITE BACK

MENTAL FITNESS CHALLENGE

WHAT IS BITE BACK?

Black Dog Institute’s BITE BACK is the very first online positive psychology program designed to improve the overall wellbeing of young Australians aged 13 to 16 years old.

BITE BACK is an interactive, self-guided, online learning platform, containing a range of quizzes, activities, and videos. The Program may be accessed through the link to the right.

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

BITE BACK has been evaluated via a randomised controlled trial that explored the feasibility of BITE BACK and its ability to improve the wellbeing and mental health outcomes of Australian youth. Further aims were to examine rates of adherence and attrition, and to investigate the program’s acceptability. The results of this study suggested that using BITE BACK could decrease symptoms of psychopathology and increase wellbeing in young people especially for those that used the website more often and/or for longer than 30 minutes per week. Qualitative data indicated that acceptability of the BITE BACK website was also high.

Black Dog Institute - Bite Back - Mental Fitness Challenge

BITE BACK and take control of your life by joining this 6 week Mental Fitness Program.

Reduce Stress
Improve Focus
Expand Potential

The BITE BACK 6 Week Challenge helps you take control of your mental fitness. Each week you will receive tips, info and weekly activities to help you on your journey. You area able to track your progress on the Black Dog - Bite Back wesite throughout the challenge to see the full impact!

ARE THERE PRIZES?

Yes - Participants collect brand tokens as they complete each week of the Challenge and go in the draw to win a gift voucher of the same brand. Prize draws are conducted on the final week of each school term. The participant will go into the prize draw that is closest to the date of their completion.

WEEK 1 - GRATITUDE

What is Gratitude - Happy Clip on right
What are the benefits of improving your sense of Gratitude?
What can you do to build Gratitude

Introduce the topic using the animation found at the beginning of the Challenge.
Recap the meaning of Gratitude to ensure students have a basic understanding of what it is.
To build a richer understanding of Gratitude, visit the Gratitude page in the Learn section of the BITE BACK website. Students are to use the THANK TANK to practice Gratitude. THANK TANK is an activity on that encourages participants to cultivate joy through gratitude. They need to think of things that they are grateful for (e.g. sunshine, fresh coffee, education) and post these onto the THANK TANK. Please post 3 entries.
Complete the above activity 3 more times throughout the week.
Encourage students to share with the class something they feel grateful for today.
Check in with students mid-week to see how they are going.
Students are to login to BITE BACK and complete the gratitude quiz in the Explore section of the website.

Key Points:

What do you do when you feel like you have nothing to be grateful for? Gratitude is about noticing things, no matter how small (like having shoes on your feet, the sun on your face) and acknowledging them and feeling good about them.
Expressing gratitude is also an important part of improving gratitude levels. Encourage students to share their gratitude with others.

Use BITE BACK Learn section (through the Image Button on the right) to answer the discussion questions below:

What does Gratitude mean?
How does Gratitude improve Mental Fitness?
What did you find difficult about this part of the Challenge?
What did you find enjoyable about this part of the Challenge
What did you learn from this part of the Challenge?
Can you make gratitude a part of your daily life?
Encourage students to share a piece of gratitude with the class or the person next to them.
Play the Week 2 Mindfulness teaser clip (On the right of the page).