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Mental Health & Wellbeing

Mental Health

Mental health not only includes mental and emotional health, it also includes social well-being and physical health. How well, or unwell, we are in these different aspects of our mental health influences the way we feel, think and act.

Our mental health is not static and can move along a continuum depending on factors or stressors. Stressors that may impact our position on the mental health continuum can include work, finances, substance and alcohol use, relationship issues, and health issues. In children and youth, some stressors can include learning difficulties, peer issues, family struggles, housing and food insecurities, poor sleep, bullying, and substance and alcohol use. Other factors that can contribute to poor mental health include genes or brain chemistry, trauma, and family history of mental health conditions.

Mental Health Continuum

(Mental Health Continuum from Beyou.edu.au)

When stressors are chronic and stress goes untreated, our mental health can become more severely impacted and result in depression, anxiety, and addiction. To learn more about different mental conditions, visit https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health.

Wellness

“Wellness is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” – The World Health Organization.

Wellness is having a sense of wellbeing in different areas of our lives. Engaging in wellness practices helps us maintain overall health and quality of life, and we are better able to manage when we are moving closer to the struggling or severe zone on the mental health continuum. To learn more about the dimension of wellness visit SAMHSA’s wellness guide by clicking here.

The Central Coast Hotline is a confidential mental health guidance, crisis and suicide prevention Hotline which also provides mental health resource information. They are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Free of charge.

SLO County Behavioral Health works in collaboration with the community to provide services necessary to improve and maintain the health and safety of individuals and families affected by mental illness and/or substance abuse. Behavioral Health provides services to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries and provides resources and referrals to individuals without Medi-Cal. Discounted fees and sliding fee schedules are available based on family size and income. For more information, contact (800) 838-1381

CenCal Health covers all mild to moderate outpatient mental health services. Outpatient services are things that do not require an overnight stay. County Behavioral Health covers all severe conditions (also known as “Specialty Mental Health Services”) as well as “Substance Use Disorder.” CenCal Health is the Medi-Cal Managed Care Health Plan for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties for low income residents. To access therapy or medication management services, please call Member Services at 1-877-814-1861 or review their mental health provider list to find a provider and contact them to set-up an initial appointment.

CHC Behavioral Health Department boasts the largest integrated care system on the Central Coast. CHC has an integration of Behavioral Health into the Primary Care setting at all levels within their care network. Current patients of CHC can contact their provider for a referral for behavioral health services. If you have Medi-Cal/CenCal, you can call 1-866-614-4636 to schedule an appointment. For people without insurance, CHC has options such as sliding-scale payment programs. CHC can even assist you with getting enrolled with Medi-Cal/Cencal. Call one of their trained, bilingual Certified Enrollment Counselors at 1-844-361-8573.

Community Counseling Center (CCC) is a non-profit organization that provides short-term, low-cost, professional counseling for individuals, couples, and families who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Most CCC clients have no insurance, low to moderate income, or CenCal insurance. CCC clinicians see children, adolescents, and adults with a variety of mild to moderate mental health symptoms that can be helped by short-term counseling and support. Call (805) 543-7969 to request services. CCC has office locations in San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles.