Santee, California Therapists

An Overview of Mental Health in Santee, California

Located near bustling San Diago, Santee, California, is a beautiful, affluent city. But despite its proximity to city life and the ocean, Santee residents suffer from a mental health crisis that affects more and more people every year.

Mental Health Struggles in Santee

There are a variety of reasons Santee, California, residents might seek therapy. Some of the most common mental health complaints are depression and anxiety, but did you know that mental health services can help get you through a divorce, too?

Depression

When you think of mental illness, you likely think of diagnoses such as depression. Depressive disorders are some of the most common among mental health patients. People suffering from depression often exhibit similar symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Significant change in appetite
• Social isolation
• Sleeping all the time
• Talking about death
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Mood swings
• Substance abuse

If you think you or a loved one might be suffering from depression, it’s important to seek out a therapist right away. Therapy can help mediate these symptoms and get sufferers back on track toward the life they want.

Anxiety

Anxiety is another major mental health complaint facing Santee residents. Though some amount of worry is normal in a person’s everyday life, anxiety sufferers face abnormal amounts of worry on a daily basis. Often, patients find that they are so worried, sometimes about nothing in particular at all, that they have difficulty completing ordinary tasks. If you find yourself worrying so much that it interferes with your everyday life, it may be worth consulting a therapist to find out if you have an anxiety disorder. Other symptoms may include

• Constant agitation
• Restlessness
• Nightmares
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irrationality
• Social anxiety
• Physical tension or muscle aches
• Nausea
• Sense of impending doom
• Panic attacks

If you suffer from any or all of these symptoms, you are not crazy, and there is help. Therapy can help you separate normal, rational worry from anxiety symptoms and learn to cope with these issues in your day-to-day life.

Divorce

Couples going through a divorce can also benefit from mental health services. Couples’ therapy can help both parties to work through stressors together and to resolve arguments, while individual therapy can help each person to express concerns they may be unwilling to discuss in front of the other. Whether your marriage is already dissolved or just seeing the first seeds of discord, a therapist can help you decide the best course of action for you and your partner. Once the marriage is over, therapy can also help to sort through the emotional rollercoaster associated with such a traumatic process.

Children of divorce can also reap great benefits from therapy. Children perceive the end of their parents’ relationship in different ways and a therapist can help them sort through that and figure out what the new relationship dynamic will mean for them.

Mental Health Barriers in Santee, California

There are many types of therapy, including individual, couples, group, and online settings. Each type of therapy is helpful in its own way, and what is needed will vary by person and diagnosis. To get started, seek out an individual therapist who can help you come up with a treatment plan and recommend additional steps toward improving your mental health.

The mental health needs in Santee are constantly growing as more and more people succumb to the pressures of everyday life. Unfortunately, Santee employs a mere 298 mental health professionals per 100,000 people, making it difficult for many citizens to find mental help. With so few options, barriers to mental health services become more and more difficult to overcome.

Transportation issues can leave people stranded with no way to make their appointments. Stigmatization can make people unwilling to admit they need help or afraid to ask for time off from work or other obligations in order to attend appointments. Budget concerns can also become a barrier as people may find it difficult to set aside funds to pay for therapy, or may have difficulty sorting through insurance issues related to payment. Others may find that they can’t afford the loss of income resulting from taking the necessary time off from work to attend.