Therapists in San Bernardino, CA and Nearby Locations

Overview of Mental Health Resources in San Bernardino, California

San Bernardino is the 17^th largest city in California. It is a bit of a college town, home to California State University. It is situated east of Los Angeles and is about 60 square miles large. The city fell on hard financial times a few years ago and had to file for bankruptcy.

San Bernardino is an artistic community with museums and the largest amphitheater in the United States. It is renowned for its underground water sources. It is more of a seasonal climate than many cities in California with hot summers and very cold winters.

There are about 2 million people in San Bernardino. The per capita income is only about $30,000 although the average salary is closer to $50,000. It seems the residents of the city are suffering as much financially as the city itself.

You can imagine that, with these financial challenges, there is a high number of people with mental health issues in San Bernardino.

Mental Health in San Bernardino

San Bernardino has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the country. Over 12% of all residents suffer from a serious mental illness. The problem is that the county simply doesn’t have the resources to provide help to these people.

The population in California has gone up by 7 million people in the last decade but the funding and resources have not increased. The state has a difficult time keeping up with treatment. Given the high percentage of people suffering from mental illness, it is unfortunate there are not more resources to help.

Impact of Not Receiving Treatment in San Bernardino, California

San Bernardino (and California in general) are aware that they don’t have the money or resources to help all people with mental health disorders. In fact, since the bankruptcy in 2012, the city simply doesn’t have the money to run its most basic operations. A lot of services have been outsourced to the county and state. However, they don’t have the resources either.

The poverty rate in San Bernardino is surprisingly high at 17.7%. This is one of the key factors that leads to mental health disorders. Because of the lack of mental health resources, San Bernardino has its share of problems including:

• Untreated adults and children with serious mental health disorders
• Homelessness
• Unemployment
• Substance Abuse
• Depression
• Suicide

Even if San Bernardino was financially solvent, they would not be able to revamp their mental health services fast enough to meet the growing needs of the community.

What Makes San Bernardino Unique When It Comes to Mental Health?

San Bernardino is a college town, mixed with an art culture. It does have specific issues that the residents have to deal with which can lead to mental health disorders, including:

• Culture: It is a college town, with most of the students being Latino or Hispanic. They tend to fall into a group of people who fail to seek out mental health resources.
• Education: Approximately 13% of people in San Bernardino have a college degree. This is surprising given that there is a college in the town. Once people graduate, they tend to leave the area.
• Unemployment Rate: San Bernardino’s unemployment rate is 48%, a bit higher than other U.S. cities.
• Socioeconomic Factors: Given the lower per-capita income as compared to the rest of California, people in San Bernardino are more prone to economic depression.

Divorce Rate in San Bernardino

The divorce rate in San Bernardino has gone up a bit over the last ten years. It is now at 10.1% which is average for the state of California. It is higher than many other states in the country. One reason for the high divorce rate is financial issues.

Given that the town is mostly a college town, there aren’t a lot of new marriages to help boost the divorce rate. People don’t come to San Bernardino to get married – they come there after they divorce or while they’re in school.

The harsh economic conditions of the city cause more couples to refrain from getting married. There are expected to be more couples who wish to get divorced but simply can’t afford to do so. The divorce rate may continue to increase over the next decade.

Mental Health Resources in San Bernardino

After the city filed for bankruptcy in 2012, they had to outsource a good part of their medical services. There are only 181 mental health professionals for every 100,000 people in the city. Many children and adults suffering from mental health issues simply do not have the money or information to seek treatment.

College students have access to mental health help at school but a lot of them fail to get help. They see their problems as temporary. The residents of the town simply can’t afford health insurance or mental health private care.