Therapists in Sandy, UT and Nearby Locations

Mental Health in Sandy, Utah

Almost 100,000 people live in Sandy, Utah, located just between Salt Lake City and Provo. The median income is higher than the Utah average by almost $30,000 and the population is made up mostly of Caucasian and Hispanic residents.

The city sees four seasons each year, with lower temperatures during the winter and warmer months in the summer, separated by mild temperatures in both fall and spring. Sandy, Utah, is located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains and is the 5^th largest city in Utah. Residents enjoy outdoor activities such as snowshoeing, downhill skiing, biking, hiking, and rock climbing.

Situated just outside Salt Lake City, the community invests in local professional sports such as the basketball team the Utah Jazz, and the Real Salt Lake soccer stadium is located right in Sandy. More than 34,000 students are educated in the district every year and Becton Dickinson and General Dynamics are the major employers in Sandy.

The divorce rate in Sandy is slightly higher than in cities close by, coming in at 10 percent. Close to 60 percent of residents are married while 25 percent have never married. The crime index is lower than the national average (280.5) at 236.5. Sandy, Utah, is a safe, prosperous place to live, but has a unique set of issues that can lead to mental health problems in the population.

In 2014, Utah had the highest percentage of adults who dealt with a mental illness throughout the year at 22.3 percent. This means that 18.2 percent of adults, or 42.5 million people, deal with a mental illness in the United States each year, and Utah contributes largely to that number.

One of the suggested problems with mental health in Utah is the stigma attached to mental illness. Many individuals fear coming forward for help because they may be seen as weak or damaged when the reality is that mental illness is a common problem for millions of Americans.

Leading Causes of Mental Illness in Sandy, Utah

Some mental illnesses are chronic or lifelong, while other conditions are related to specific events in life such as death, divorce, or job loss. Understanding what causes mental illness can lead to finding the right type of treatment for any individual who is suffering.

• Genetics: These conditions usually run in families and experts are confident that gene abnormalities are passed down through generations. Some may inherit a susceptibility to an illness but not actually develop the illness itself.
• Infections: Some infections can cause brain damage or the worsening of mental health symptoms.
• Brain injury or defects: Mental illness is sometimes linked to illnesses or injury to certain areas of the brain.
• Substance abuse: Drug or alcohol abuse can be linked to paranoia, depression, and anxiety.

In Sandy, seasonal affective disorder is also common, as January and February are often gray months with little amounts of sunlight. This can be due to the inversion in the Salt Lake Valley and the poor air quality.

Mental Health Resources in Sandy, Utah

While Utah has a large population of adults who suffer from some type of mental illness and teen suicide rates are one of the highest in the nation, it can be difficult to find the right resources when you need help. When the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health launched an anonymous screening program that allowed residents to determine if they suffered from a mental illness, the website crashed on the first day. Recently, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has praised Utah’s efforts to improve access to mental health care, where they once gave Utah a “D” grade on their mental health policies.