Discussion Point

                                        

Step 2: Identify problem and Problem analysis (Factor to our issue ‘Mental Health Issue Among Youth’

Discussion points

1. Living in a stressful environment

• -       Abusive family put a lot of stress on your brain and trigger mental illness
• -       Pressure to live up to the accomplishment of older sibling
• -       Having parents who separated or divorce

2. Having negative thought

• -       Constantly put yourself down
• -       Stuck in a cycle of depression or anxiety
• -       Doubt themselves and compare their life with other people

3. Lack of friend

• -       Feeling loneliness will affect our mental health
• -       Don’t have anyone to share our problems

4. Traumatic events

• -       Don’t lead to mental health problem  on their own
• -       Traumatic events trigger problems for children and young adults
• -       Already vulnerable from abusive family but happen to a happy family too

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Essay

 

ESSAY : IMPLEMENT THE SOLUTION FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE AMONG YOUTH

WRITTEN BY : ANANDA KRISHNAN

 

             Adolescence 10 to 19 years is a unique and formative time. Many physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Promoting psychological well-being and protecting adolescents from adverse experiences and risk factors that may impact their potential to thrive are critical for their well-being during adolescence and for their physical and mental health in adulthood.

               Firstly, the most common mental health among youth is stress. Stress is one of the biggest and most important problems of this age because stress always affects our life in a negative way. In the past people had an easy life and they did not feel stress so much, but today their life is getting worse day by day because of stress. In my opinion, there are three main effects of being stressed on people’s psychology, work life and health. To overcome this problem we need to know how to handle stress because it helps us to improve ourselves in stress situations. It will be helpful for our future if we distract the negative vibration. Furthermore, we can learn how to fix our problems but before that we need to recognize what causes our stress. Patience is one of the main key to avoid stress and many other problems. It is important for us to find the root causes of our problems and start to fix before it become worse and effect our mental health.

              Communication could be a good tool to release out the stress. It is important for us to share our problems with someone rather than keep it to ourselves because sometimes we couldn’t hold it anymore, it is really tiring thus make us do a bad decision to release the stress. Family is like everything to do with love, compassion, and support. We may speak with our family members when we are stress because family members are closest people around us. Some might say family know us better than we know our self. So I think by sharing our worries with them it can ease our mind. A talk with family definitely will be helpful because it’s better to share our problems with a close person rather than taking a bad decision. We could do something that can release our stress especially when we were studying. We could take a break and maybe watch a variety show to makes us relax for a little while. Once you’ve identified the trigger acknowledged the cause of your added stress and formulated a plan to manage the situation, it’s time to move on. Don’t let the stress fester and multiply, and start a new cycle.

      A good mental health enable individual to handle day-to-day events and obstacles, work on their goals, and function effectively in society. Minor disturbances in mental health could with delay early intervention will not only a suffered to the individual but also a burden to their families and society considerably. The economic and personal costs of mental illness are also the major concerned in social and public health. Exercise was believed to enhance individual's ability to cope with and manage their mental disorder apart from its well documented physical health benefit. Improved quality of life is particularly important for individuals with severe and enduring mental health problems as exercise may alleviate depression, low self-esteem and social withdrawal. We can implement this solution through encouraging our family members to go for a park or lake for exercising. Exercising could help for the people to treat their depression and anxiety. Other than that, exercising can boost up the mood and produce feelings of happiness. An individual can also sign up for yoga or other type of fitness classes. Indulge in some staycation within the nature as nature can produce happy human, it also includes exercising with a nice view and nature brings calm to you. We may also can tell how important is exercising to the people whom undergoing mental health issue. Thus they will be aware and will go for exercising.

                 As mental illness starts from the early age, the school can implement sports day for the student to participate during their free time which encourage them to start living in healthy lifestyle and parents should make sure that they participate in the event. Advertise regarding importance exercising with colorful images where it may attract people to boost up the sport sense in their mind. Spreading awareness about important of exercise for mental and body health can help other people with mental issues to be more aware about body fitness. New generation kids should start exercising in their childhood so that they practice as the same when they grow up. Spreading awareness about important of exercise for mental and body health can help other people with mental issues to be more aware about the decision that they make. The knowledge should be spread from children to parents where it may cause changes.

               Sometimes in life, we as people get caught in situations that keep us from growing. We fight against ourselves to become better, but fear sets in to scare us. Also, our negative mindset keeps us from progressing in life. When dealing with negative thoughts understanding how to overcome them can be a big issue. Negativity can lead to things such as exhaustion, hunger, sleep deprivation, and even the common cold. Negative thoughts have shown to be a leading cause in suicidal deaths, as well as many cases of homicide and murder. Who would of ever believed that the negativity in your head could have such an outcome on your life. We are our own worst enemy in life and making our own judgments. So with this being said there isn’t just one-way of dealing with the negative thoughts. Depending on who you are or the type of person you are you can deal with this in many different ways. Personally my best way to get rid of my negative thoughts is to have an environment change. Changing your environment includes changing your location to changing the people around you. Seeing a different environment or different people can offer a change in the way we think. When we start our day off, we should say to ourselves, ‘’ it’s going to be a great day today’’. Thinking like this everyday would help us to stay positive and keep us motivated. Also, thinking like this gives a better outlook on life and helps you to put more effort towards you goal. This also, helps us to strive for excellence and it helps you to block out negative thoughts. Once we get to that point, our positive mindset helps us avoid negative people. Having a positive image helps us draw to positive people. We can smile all the day just to get positive vibration. We need to use less social media as it can bring the negativity to us that would affect or mental health. When you have a really hard time, take a break from the social media and focus in yourself more. Also thinking positively can reduce the likelihood of health conditions, like depression, hypertension, and a variety of other stress-related disorders. It’s normal for negative thoughts to present themselves every now and then. We should be ready to face everything since our life is like full of ups and downs. We actually need to realize that life is not perfect, so live your life at the fullest and love yourself more. Whatever it takes, life has to go on so let’s face it positively. Ignore the negativity and spread the positivity.

               Finally, we must know how to fix the problems by checking and identifying our mental health problems by ourselves because we know ourselves better than the others. If problems continue or you are thinking about suicide, talk to a psychologists or professional counselor as they are experienced. The next thing is after we know what causes our stress, we should start planning the solution on how to deal with each if the problem one by one. In detail, we need to identify the cause of stress because the most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar, even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you. So we need to overcome stress to live a normal life. To be sure, we need to find causes of stress because and then only we can find the solution as soon as possible to just get rid of it. We need to check and identify our mental health problems by ourselves because we know ourselves better than the others. Besides that, having a conversation with a close person such as family and friends will be very helpful. This is important because no one can keep their problems inside them for a longer period. As longer time they keep the problem would be very deep. Thus having conversations will make us feel better. We need to find someone who is willing to listen our story and help us or give a proper guidance for the survival of life. Sometimes you just need to let out how you’re feeling with no real plan for a solution. You just want someone to listen and its actually help us to feel that they are there for you. Good listeners will able to hear our problems and they might give us solutions for our problem. Conversations can solve and give answers for many problems. Life is full of ups and downs. We need to balance it to live happily, share the love and kindness save others.

 

 Reference :-

 

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/about/copingwith-stresstips.html

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health

https://nursinganswers.net/essays/mental-health-effects-of-exercise-health-and-social-care-essay.php

 

 

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Discussion Point

 

DEVELOPE AN ACTION PLAN

1^ST PLAN : Learn on how to deal with stress

• -        Able to improve ourselves in stress situations.
• -        It will be helpful for our future if we distract the negative vibration.
• -        We can learn on how to fix our problems.
• -        We need to recognize what causes our stress.
• -         We need to start planning how to solve each problem one by one with patience.
• -      It is important for us to find the root causes of our problems and start to fix before it become worse and effect our mental health.
• -        Communication could be a good tool to release out the stress.
• -        It's better to share other than bursting in a day.
• -        A talk with family definitely will be helpful.
• -        We could do something that can release our stress especially when we were studying .
• -     We could take a break and maybe watch a variety show to make us relax for a little bit or do something that you like.
• -        Once you’ve identified the trigger acknowledged the cause of your added stress and formulated a plan to manage the situation, it’s time to move on. Don’t let the stress fester and multiply, and start a new cycle.

 

2^nd PLAN : EXERCISE

• -        We can implement this solution through encouraging our family members to go for a park or lake for exercising.
• -        Exercising could help for the people to treat their depression and anxiety to.
• -        Exercising can boost up the mood and produce feelings of happiness.
• -        We can also sign up for yoga or other type of fitness classes.
• -        Indulge in some staycation within the nature as nature can produce happy human, it also includes exercising with a nice view and nature brings calm to us.
• -        We may also can tell how important is exercising to the people whom undergoing mental health issue. Thus they will be aware and will go for exercising.
• -        As mental illness starts from the early age, the school can implement sports day for the student to participate during their free time which encourage them to start living in healthy lifestyle.
• -        We may also advertise regarding importance exercising with colorful images where it may attract people to boost up the sport sense.
• -      Spreading awareness about important of exercise for mental and body health can help other people with mental issues to be more aware about the solution they in.
• -        The knowledge should be spread from children to parents where it may cause changes.

 

 

3^rd PLAN : AVOID NEGATIVITY

-        We can smile all the day just to get positive vibration.

• -        We need to use less social media as it can bring the negativity to us that would affect or mental health. When you have a really hard time, take a break from the social media and focus in yourself more.
• -   Also thinking positively can reduce the likelihood of health conditions, like depression, hypertension, and a variety of other stress-related disorders.
• -      Ignore the haters. Dismiss their bile for what it is vicious comments of unfulfilled people. Remind yourself that you are above them and nothing they say will bring you down.
• -     We can also stop thinking unnecessary thing frequently where it may cause negative vibration surrounding us.
• -        It’s normal for negative thoughts to present themselves every now and then.
• -       We should be ready to face everything since our life is like full of ups and downs.
• -        We actually need to realize that life is not perfect, so live your life at the fullest and love yourself more.
• -        Ignore the negativity but spread the positivity.

 

IMPLEMENT THE PLAN

CHOOSEN SOLUTION : -

Learn how to deal with stress

STAGE 1 : Learn on how to fix the problems

• -    We need to check and identify our mental health problems by ourselves because we know ourselves better than the others.
• -     If problems continue or you are thinking about suicide, talk to a psychologists or professional counselor as they are experienced.
• -        The next thing is after we know what causes our stress, we should start planning the solution on how to deal with each if the problem one by one.

 

STAGE 2 : IDENTIFY THE CAUSE

• We need to know the causes of our stress because the most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar, even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you. So we need to overcome stress to live a normal life
• -        We need to find causes of stress because and then only we can find the solution as soon as possible to just get rid of it
• -        We need to check and identify our mental health problems by ourselves because we know ourselves better than the others

 

 STAGE 3 : HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH A CLOSE PERSON

• -        This is important because no one can keep their problems inside them for a longer period. As longer time they keep the problem would be very deep. Thus having conversations will make us feel better
• -        We need to find someone who is willing to listen our story and help us or give a proper guidance for the survival of life
• -        Sometimes you just need to let out how you’re feeling with no real plan for a solution. You just want someone to listen and its actually help us to feel that they are there for you
• -        Good listeners will able to hear our problems and they might give us solutions for our problem
• -        Conversations can solve and give answers for many problems.

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INTERVIEW VIDEO

 

INTERVIEW ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH ON YOUTH

This interview discussed the mental health issue through the perspective of a youth. 

Interviewer: Kausalyah Samanthan

                   Nur Ainna

                   Nor Alia Yasmin Wong

                   Ananda Krishnan

Intervieweer: Nivya Rajakumaran

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Essay: Solutions for our topic - ‘Mental Health Issue Among Youth’

 

Written by : Kausalyah A/P Samanthan

The World Federation for Mental Health is focusing on Young People and Mental Health Issues in a Changing World towards a healthy and positive mindset. Addressing youth mental health issues is one of the most crucial challenges facing our community today. According to the World Health Organization the data, mental disorders are the most common cause of issues in the younger generation. If the issue has been left untreated, mental disorders can obstruct all aspects of health, including emotional well-being and social development, leaving young people feeling socially isolated, and stressful family environments such as harsh discipline, a significant loss like parental death. Worldwide, the increase of those youth who suffer from mental health issues has risen by an approximated figure of 10 million. There is more of a general understanding of the challenges that youth people face in everyday life and the implications of these challenges are well documented in youth’s mental health statistics. If we are able to find solutions at an early stage, it may lead to a reduction in emotional and behavioral problems among youth. It can also lead to improvements in social, learning outcomes, healthy mindset, and quality of life.

Challenges approach us every day in the life in different ways.  It is important to remember that these challenges do not mean the world is ending because Where There is A Way Will There is A Way. Living a healthy lifestyle helps keep your mind balanced where it actually deals well with our mental health issues. During the teenage years, things are steadily changing, and we are steadily developing through physically and mentally. We are becoming more independent as we are growing. It is our responsibility to make sure of what we are doing and what decisions we are taking in our life. We need an adequate amount of sleep. A regular human needs 6 to 8 hours of sleep. This is because our brain needs rest for the process of information that we gather on a particular day. Researchers concluded that sleep has links to several brain functions where concentration, productivity and cognition. A study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry showed that youth’s sleep patterns can have a direct impact on their behavior and academic performance.

Another good way to reduce mental health issues among youth is spreading awareness on reducing stigma. Stigma is a type of negative vibration where it surrounds our teenage world. In order to reduce or delete the stigma, we need to increase the awareness in the thick of teenagers. One way to do this is by starting or joining a mental health club which has been organized by our school campus or society. Joining a club of that nature, or even starting our own club with some friends, is a great step forward in reducing the stigma that surrounds mental health. It is also important to call others by their given name, or the name they have clearly stated they would like to be called. Labelling and branding is a common form of stigma among teens which they think is a funny thing but it causes hurt and pain for the respective people. Names such as psycho, crazy, and retarded are labelling names that people used to call. Everyone should be treated equally with respect and dignity. 

            Moreover, physical activity has been proven to be a great way to release stress. We also need an adequate amount of exercise to boost our self-esteem and be able to distract our mind from negative vibration. It helps us feel better inside and out. Good nutrition has helped us to boost our brain and memory such as blueberries where it improves communication between brain cells and broccoli has a higher vitamin K intake to better memory. When dealing with mental health issues, another better way could be we should learn on how to deal stress by ourselves. We can write a journal or we can read motivational books to keep ourselves positive and we are able to feel inspired and motivated again. Other than that ,we stay busy, so that our mind is distracted from the fixations we have on the negativity that exists in our  daily life. We also can set goals to cheer up ourselves. Setting goals always brings us a sense of capability, and our mentality desperately needs that positivity.

Asking for help when dealing with a mental health issue is a sign of strength and not a weakness. It takes so much attempt and courage to step forward and accept that we may not be able to handle our challenges that we are facing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking someone for help and might we get a better solution for our problem. Sometimes, we youth people are afraid to speak up. We might think we are disturbing others or becoming a burden for others. We fear that people will think we are weak because we cannot handle everything by ourselves. Avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and drugs could be one of the way to reduce mental health issue among youth. Alcohol and other drugs can improve our mood for a short moment, but they are possible to make feel much worse in the long term, especially when we are already surviving with mental health issues. There’s also evidence that consuming alcohol increases the risk of developing mental health problems and makes self-harm. Sometimes people use alcohol and other drugs to "self-medicate" but in reality, it causes aggravate problems where it could be an addiction in the future.

Surrounding ourselves with good people is one of the most important factors to reduce mental health issues among youth because it is a type of vibration which will have an enormous impact on our mental health. We should make sure the people around us are supportive, positive, and good for you. Being around the wrong people can contribute to mental illness and also invite additional problems into your life. We can spend our quality time with our family members with good activities such as having a picnic or having meals together. We should also learn to smile every day since it comes with some real-life benefits. When we smile, our brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to aid fight off stress. One research even recommends that smiling can help us recover faster from mental health issues and reduce our heart rate. In fact, it might even be worth a fake smile coming from us. There’s been some evidence that forcing a smile can still bring you a boost in your mood and happiness level. 

We should accept how we are and we need to believe that we have power to deal with any challenges .Phrases like“ I can lead my life.” “I am intelligent.” “I am exclusive.” “I have a purpose!” ,telling ourselves these affirmations every day is the best reminder that we have the possibility and power to deal with our mental health issues. We all possess incredibly positive qualities. They should not be overlooked. They should be constant reminders that we can overcome and that positive outcomes are possible. We are able to boost up our confidence level and even we can provide support for ourselves. Positive vibration should come from us first and we should believe that we are capable of facing a lot of obstacles in our life. It took a little bit of determination, but a mental health issue would not defeat us to achieve success in our life. 

Leading a positive life can be contagious. Dealing with a mental health issue can be extremely overwhelming. Bringing positive vibes with us is a great way to boost our mood. Positivity is a route to finding hope and seeing the light in every situation, or at the end of the tunnel. Take away anything that feels doesn’t fit our lifestyle. We should come out from the dark phase and just let go of all the negative vibrations that trapped us. Just remember to do everything with purpose, love, and care. We even can just walk out from our home to get the presence of nature and enjoy 15 minutes of sunshine. When our skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur. Sunlight synthesizes Vitamin D, which experts believe is a mood elevator.

We can conclude that the path to teen depression can be varied and complicated. We can’t simply apply a formula and expect everything to turn out well. “Youths are not machines.” That means that we must treat them as individuals and recognize their unique skills and challenges, while providing the kinds of support they need to thrive, whatever challenges they face. In that way, we not only help teens to avoid problems like depression, we help shape a positive future for them and for society.

                                                                                References 

§  https://discoverymood.com/blog/10-tips-teen-dealing-with-a-mental-health/

§  https://www.psychologicalhealthcare.com.au/blog/tips-improve-youth-mental-health-2018/

§  https://uhs.umich.edu/tenthings

§  https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/how-to/seven-tips-on-how-to-improve-mental-health/?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=Search_PPC_c&utm_term=_b&utm_content=118051369887&network=g&placement&target&matchtype=b&utm_campaign=11771068538&ad_type=text&adposition&gclid=CjwKCAjw1uiEBhBzEiwAO9B_HVCFtoGRq37R2rxj1anToeRen1AbJACzrqflc4loA_Joa7GFtCSd9BoCzr8QAvD_BwE

§  https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2019/06/the-real-health-benefits-of-smiling-and-laughing/#:~:text=Release%20the%20Endorphins!,the%20serotonin%20is%20an%20antidepressant.

 

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Essay : Advantages and disadvantages of the solutions

 Step 4 - Advantages and disadvantages of the solutions

Written by Nur Ainna Binti Roslan

Have you ever felt like you’re viewing your life from distance? Like you’re watching your life happening from outside, but feeling everything that your body and mind are feeling? Detached from your own skin, but feeling every sense that this skin feels? This is the best way I can describe what an episode of mental health feels like.

Since you’re reading this page, I assume you’ve decided it’s time to get serious about managing your own mental health. To help you in this worthwhile pursuit, from our discussion point include numerous proactive solutions you can take to help to deal with mental health conditions.

First of all, we should learn how to deal with stress. How? I advocate doing nothing. Yes, that’s right. Do nothing. Sit there, close your eyes and let your mind go blank. Be like Eve Legato and mesmerize yourself with flowing water. Get off the daily merry-go-round for just a few minutes. The proof is mounting that is clearing away clutter and letting go of your emotions can have a profoundly positive effect on your well-being. We need to understand how the mind and body influence each other and how shaping that relationship with activities like meditation and positive thinking can help managing stress. The more science discovers the more we realize managing stress can help in increasing concentration, decrease anxiety and reduce pain.  For example meditation. Meditation can be anything you do for the purpose of slowing down the constant chatter in your head. It involves technique concentrating on a single point of focus to direct your thought away from stress and anxiety, If the mind wanders, it sweeps bad thoughts from the mind to create an empty space that can be filled with peace and serenity or with positive and productive thought. However, the pursuit of activities to help you reduce stress might result in us becoming too dependent on the coping mechanism used.

Second, we should ourselves with good people, be it socially or digitally. We can befriend anyone. Sadly, not all of our acquaintance is good. By good, it means the surrounding. Good peer pressure can assure you of your places in society, be it online or in your neighborhood.  They will positively influence us. But, by doing so, we will become too dependent on our growth to other people.

Third, mental health support such as befriend should be promoted across the country. By doing this, people will be more aware of mental health issues. They will be more aware of themselves about how it will affect our daily life. Furthermore, people with mental health conditions will be more aware of how to get treatment and how to cope with their illness. However, there’re some people who misuse this service such as making a prank call.

Fourth, we should exercise regularly simply because it’ll make us feel good. Exercise can boost your mood, concentration, and alertness. It can even help give you a positive outlook on life. Regular exercise can help you sleep better. And good sleep helps you regulate your mood. It can also improve your sense of control, coping ability, and self-esteem. People who exercise regularly often report how good achieving a goal makes them feel. Exercise can also distract you from negative thoughts and provide opportunities to try new experiences. Apart from that, it offers an opportunity to socialize and get social support if you exercise with others. Besides the levels of chemicals in the brain such as serotonin, stress hormones, and endorphins change when you exercise. Hence the physical benefits of exercise are also important for people with mental illness.  It improves your cardiovascular health and overall physical health. This is important because people with mental health issues are at a higher risk of suffering from chronic physical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma.

Fifth, we need to practice self-care. For instance, we can maintain a routine, exercise, and have a healthy diet. We also need to avoid things that will affect our health. Especially something like cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and et cetera. By doing that, it will provide us with a break from stress. It can also improve physical health. But, overdoing 'me time' might cause people to withdraw from their social life.

Lastly, positive thinking is the most powerful weapon you have in the fight against mental illness. I've seen how harmful negative, anxious and depressive thinking can be. It keeps the flight or fight mechanism in the body and this will wear down your mental and physical defenses. Optimism defeats stress. In the first place, believing everything will turn out fine at least opens you up to the possibility everything will work out for the better, something negative thinking doesn't even allow you to consider. In certain meditation practices, the goal is to sweep bad thoughts. With mindful practice, you don’t attempt to send the negative thought away instead you will quietly watch them flow through your mind like a bubbling stream. Besides, avoiding negativity can help to boost the immune system, enhance sleep quality, increase self-awareness and depressive symptoms. And you could benefit from the first moment you start avoiding the negativity in your life. Nevertheless, negative thinking can also have a positive influence. Negative people sometimes communicate better, think more clearly and make fewer mistakes, less gullible, and are better at dicision-making. The reason is that negative people have enhanced information processing strategies, which means they use critical parts of their brain more successfully than cheerful people.  Though there are benefits of positive thinking, the benefits of negative thinking shouldn’t be discarded. There’s a place for both in every workplace.  Thus it is important to balance between negative and positive thinking.

In conclusion, there are numerous ways you can shift to deal with mental health illness. Even the darkest thinkers are capable of calling up positive thoughts once in a while if it helps motivate you to fight with mental illness, A good place to start is with yourself. Something as simple as jotting down a few self-affirmative statements can make an immediate difference. 

References;

• https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/tips-for-coping-with-depersonalisation-and-derealisation/
• https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/the-benefits-of-negative-thinking-20101217-18zsv.html
• https://activerain.com/blogsview/4737467/advantages-of-positive---disadvantages-of-negative-thinking
• https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/top-10-reasons-exercise-is-bad-for-you/
• https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/exercise-and-mental-health

 

 

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