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Hernandez
Moises Hernandez

Dr. Nelson

English 1301

3 November 2022

The Analysis of Mental Health and Exercise

University students come across numerous challenges throughout their college careers.

Depression and other related mental health issues are amongst the most dangerous hurdles that

college students may, unfortunately, come across. Mental health disorders such as depression

and anxiety along with many other mental health concerns have been a major issue affecting

college communities all over the world. There have been many studies that have researched these

disorders and their negative, hurtful impact on students and their mental and physical health.

Although mental health disorders are dangerous and frightening, there have been studies that

have researched possible solutions to aid in completely subduing mental health disorders and

their deadly symptoms. One research article in particular held a study that involved the

regulation of physical exercise and its effect on students going through depression. Michael

Grasdalsmoen, Hege Randi Eriksen, Kari Jussie Lonning, and Borge Sivertsen in a research

article called, “Physical exercise, mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university

students”, successfully delivered the results of their studies to their audience by emphasizing the

abundant amount of research that was conducted through the primary use of Pathos, Logos and

the subtle use of Ethos.

Grasdalsmoen et al. use Pathos to persuade the audience into comprehending how serious

the topic of mental health is among university students. This is done by showing how students

are unable to keep up with their academics because of how depression conflicts with their daily
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lives. Grasdalsmoen et al. also emphasizes how undermined this topic is by stating how there

isn’t enough attention brought to mental health and its negative effects on students

(Grasdalsmoen et al 2). This portion of the article makes the audience feel angry because of the

lack of attention brought to the issue. The article also details the responses given by students who

were asked uncomfortable questions such as, “Have you ever made an attempt to take your life,

by taking an overdose of tablets or in some other way?”, and “Have you ever deliberately

harmed yourself in any way but not with the intention of killing yourself? (Grasdalsmoen et al

2). These questions force readers to feel shocked by the situation because of how disturbing it is

for students to take such drastic measures. The article gives students different response options

that range from “last week” to “more than a year ago, but after I started studying at a university”

(Grasdalsmoen et al. 2). The responses given by the students allow the audience to feel empathy

towards students that have attempted to end their life. The readers witness how common, and

how concerning mental health issues are within university communities. Through the use of

Pathos, Grasdalsmoen et al. are able to convince the audience of the serious consequences of

mental disorders currently affecting college students.

The authors can successfully inform their audience about the positive effects of

exercising regularly by primarily using Logos through their extensive studies, worldwide

statistics, and tests that they conducted throughout the making of their research article. One of

the studies within the article is based on statistics, which compares the percentage of students

with depression and limited physical activity to those students that exercise regularly. In this

comparison, the studies found that one in four women who do not exercise regularly reported to

have had depression and anxiety compared to one in ten women who exercise regularly. This

comparison reveals to the audience the drastic difference in depression found in women who
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don’t exercise regularly compared to women who do exercise regularly. This research article also

revealed a worldwide statistic that each suicide death in western Europe cost about 1.3 million

Euros which not only costs the person who committed suicide and the people around them but it

also affects the society around them (Grasdalsmoen et al 2). The authors of this research article

added this statistic in order to use logos as a way to show the audience that suicide has a domino

effect that negatively affects everyone, including society itself.

Finally, Grasdalsmoen et al. insert their individual work backgrounds in order to utilize

ethos. In the author’s details located on page 10, there is a list stating the different professions

that each individual author works in. These professions include the Department of Mental

Health, Department of Research & Innovation, Department of Sport, Food and Natural Science,

etc., all located in Norway. The Department of Mental Health is a valid profession that the

audience can rely upon because the profession specifically specializes in mental health which is

able to effectively study and test the mental health of the students partaking in the studies being

conducted. The Department of Research & Innovation also plays a vital role in the use of Ethos

as this department not only conducts but also creates the different studies and statistics

mentioned within the article. Lastly, the Department of Sport, Food and Natural Science is a

dependable profession needed to make the article persuasive because of its knowledge of the

different types of exercises, food, drinks, and sleep needed in order to properly analyze the

results of the tests and responses given by the students. All of the departments mentioned are

located in the “Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway”

(Grasdalsmoen et al 11). which assures the audience that the departments mentioned are not only

authentic but reliable. Because of the reliability of the departments, ethos is successfully
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delivered by convincing the audience that the argument given by the article is valid and

trustworthy.

In “Physical exercise, mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university

students” Grasdalsmoen et al. present a serious issue in the lives of college students and present a

possible solution to the problem given. Grasdalsmoen et al. successfully deliver their argument

through their effective use of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. The article reveals shocking evidence

that leaves the readers flabbergasted and empathetic towards the gut-wrenching topic which then,

as a result, brings more attention to the disregarded issue. The article gives factual and statistical

information that allows readers to better understand how dire the matter is. Finally, the article

lists the different professions involved in the research article to convince the readers to trust the

research article and the authors as a whole. By combining these rhetorical tools, the article

successfully convinces readers of the possible solution to the devastating issue of mental health

disorders among students within universities.

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Work Cited

Grasdalsmoen, Michael, et al. “The Analysis of Mental Health and Exercise” Physical exercise,

mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university students, vol. 20, no. 175,

2020, pp. 1-11. BMC Psychiatry, doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-02583-3