Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and well-being, and mental illnesses are common and treatable. So much of what we physically do impacts us mentally –it’s important to pay attention to both your physical health and your mental health and the health of those around you, which can help you achieve overall wellness and set you on a path to recovery.

This May is Mental Health Month; Whittier Consortium is raising awareness about the connection between physical health and mental health, through the theme Fitness #4Mind4Body. The campaign is meant to educate and inform individuals about how eating healthy foods, gut health, managing stress, exercising, and getting enough sleep can go a long way in making you healthy all around. We would also like to take a moment to recognize our neighbors experiencing homelessness who may be suffering from a mental health crisis.

If you are not comfortable engaging the person, then call 211 to let regional services know that there is a person who appears to need assistance, and they will send an outreach team. You should be able to let them know where the person is, what he or she is wearing, what condition he or she seems to be in, and whether it is an emergency. Call 211, unless the person clearly seems to be in need of emergency medical care, in which case call 911.

The Whittier Consortium wants everyone to know that mental illnesses are real, and recovery is always the goal. Living a healthy lifestyle may not be easy, but by looking at your overall health and the health of those around you every day – both physically and mentally – you can go a long way in ensuring that you focus on your Fitness #4Mind4Body.

For more information, visit www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may