Bayonne, New Jersey Therapists

An Overview of Mental Health in Bayonne, New Jersey

Bayonne is a maritime city located on a peninsula in the south section of Hudson County in northern New Jersey. With a population of approximately 66,000, it is sandwiched between Newark, the most populous city in New Jersey, and Brooklyn, the most populous borough in New York City, though separated from each by the waters of Newark Bay and New York Bay, respectively.

Socioeconomic Profile of Bayonne, New Jersey

More than half of Bayonne residents (56.8 percent) identify as white, while over a quarter (25.8 percent) identify as Hispanic/Latino. Residents identifying as either black or Asian are approximately evenly matched at 7.5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

Economically, the estimated median household income of Bayonne is $54,862, lower than the median for New Jersey at $73,702 but only slightly lower than the median for the United States at $55,322. The average age of residents in Bayonne is 37.5 years, and approximately 49.4 percent of residents are female.

Mental Health Priorities in Hudson County

Finding mental health statistics specifically related to Bayonne is difficult. However, statistics are available for Hudson County. A medical center in nearby Jersey City, another community in Hudson County, ranked mental health and substance abuse, under the blanket term of behavioral health, as number four of its top five health care priorities in 2016. Its study demonstrated that residents of Hudson County reported an average of 3.4 mentally unhealthy days per month between 2006 and 2012, which was slightly higher than the statewide average of 3.3 but also slightly decreased from 3.5 during the previous decade or so.

Perhaps the most prominent behavioral health concern in Hudson County is substance abuse. As a state, New Jersey hasn’t been hit quite as hard by the opioid epidemic as some of its neighbors, but it still sees a moderately high rate of annual drug overdose deaths: 23.2 per 100,000 people in 2016, sixteen of which were due specifically to opioids, another relatively high number. Of municipalities in Hudson County, Bayonne had the second-highest number of substance abuse admissions of Hudson County municipalities in 2017, outpaced only by Jersey City to its north, which had 2,373 substance abuse admissions.

There is also a marked ethnic/racial disparity when it comes to substance abuse treatment admissions. In 2017, 40 percent of Hudson County residents admitted to treatment for substance abuse were of Hispanic origin, despite Hispanics making up only about 25 percent of the population of Bayonne. It should be noted, however, that admission statistics on the basis of race/ethnicity specifically for the community of Bayonne were not available.

Following the devastating effects of Superstorm Sandy on the New Jersey coast in October 2012, planning for future disasters by coordinating behavioral health services became a priority for authorities in Hudson County. A related study found that Hudson County had the highest rates of depression among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries of ten selected counties in the aftermath of the storm.

Other Factors Affecting Mental Health in Bayonne

A number of other factors have the potential to affect mental health in Bayonne.

• Poverty: At 15.5 percent, the rate of people living in poverty in Bayonne is relatively high. In 2017, the national rate was about 3 percent. Approximately 26 percent of Bayonne residents living in poverty are Hispanic/Latino, while 51.6 percent are white. Females age 35-44 are the largest age and gender demographic living in poverty.
• Education: Only about 1 in 3 Bayonne residents (33.6 percent) hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 87.7 percent of residents with a high school diploma. With a college degree increasingly a prerequisite for many positions, it may be difficult for those with lower educational attainment to find adequate-paying jobs, afford health care, or access insurance coverage.
• Risky Behaviors: Yearly HIV diagnoses in Hudson County are significantly high, with 1,011.5 new diagnoses per 100,000 people in 2016. New chlamydia diagnoses during the same timeframe were moderate, with 397.4 per 100,000 people. The stress of receiving such diagnoses, as well as the conditions themselves, can sometimes affect mental health.

Mental Health Resources in Bayonne, New Jersey

There are approximately 60 psychiatrist doctors practicing in or near Bayonne, and many offer more than one office location. Other mental health resources include the following:

• The Mental Health Association in New Jersey (MHANJ) in Hudson County
• Bayonne Community Mental Health Center