September 19, 2023
Mental health exercise needed
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week, with Māori twice as likely as non-Māori to express negative well-being.
Astley Nathan, the head of Māori engagement with the Mental Health Foundation, says it’s important to acknowledge that Māori are twice as likely as others to express or report negative well-being.
“There’s ways, there’s intrinsic knowledge that we know as our people that has been lost through the years by intergenerational trauma, by loss of language, through the loss of land, and that has knock on effects for our people now,” he says.
Mr Nathan says people know they need regular exercise to maintain physical fitness, and they also need regular work to maintain their mental well being.