Wellness the national focus in September
During the month of September, the U. S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) celebrates National Wellness Week, an event launched by SAMHSA to inspire individuals, families, behavioral health and primary care providers, and peer-run, faith-based and other community organizations to focus on ways to incorporate wellness into a person’s life as part of a holistic lifestyle.
Community Mental Health Center, Inc., Lawrenceburg, joins SAMHSA in celebrating wellness and its importance to everyone who wants to live healthy fulfilling lives. CMHC continues to strengthen its own ongoing focus on wellness. The agency is working to develop opportunities to partner with primary health care providers and others in our service area and region to promote wellness. We want to challenge residents of our service area to increase their wellness knowledge while becoming more health conscious.
CMHC is using SAMHSA’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness to help drive our efforts. These eight dimensions – Emotional, Environmental, Financial, Intellectual, Occupational, Physical, Social and Spiritual – are essential elements of life that, when in balance, help make a person healthy, happy and better able to meet the challenges everyone faces every day.
National Wellness Week shares the message that practicing wellness provides an essential foundation for good health. According to SAMHSA, “The ultimate goal of the week is to increase awareness about wellness within our communities and to extend the longevity and quality of life of people with mental health and substance use disorders. Wellness is especially important for people who have mental health and substance use disorders because, for them, wellness is more than a reduction of risk factors or the absence of disease, illness or stress. It also involves having purpose in life, satisfying work and play, joyful relationships, a healthy body and living environment, and happiness. Each of the dimensions of wellness can affect overall quality of life, so it is important to look beyond the absence of disease to all aspects of health.”
CMHC Executive Director Tom Talbot said the agency is committed to a wellness approach to health.
“Everyone wants to live healthy, fulfilling lives. To reach this goal, it takes commitment and a willingness to improve,” said Mr. Talbot. “Why not start today, one small step that, over time, leads to a giant leap toward wellness.”
Since the founding of National Wellness Week in 2011, at least 300 organizations in 46 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam have celebrated wellness week.
Every year, Community Mental Health Center, Inc. provides services to thousands of residents in the Southeastern Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, Ripley and Switzerland. CMHC offers programs for individuals who want to begin the recovery process. Treatment is available for individuals of all ages. To inquire about services at Community Mental Health Center, Inc., please contact CMHC’s South Region Outpatient Services Dearborn County office in Lawrenceburg at (812) 537-7375, or CMHC’s North Region Outpatient Services George Street office in Batesville at (812) 934-4210.
For more information about SAMHSA’s Eight Dimension of Wellness or other parts of SAMHSA’s efforts regarding wellness, please visit SAMHSA’s website at www.samhsa.gov and search “wellness.” For more information about CMHC, please visit our website at www.cmhcinc.org.
All CMHC services are provided without regard to race, religion, disability, gender, color, age, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political belief, status as a veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.
