Therapists in Ogden, UT and Nearby Locations

Mental Health in Ogden, Utah

Located 40 miles north of Utah’s capital Salt Lake City and only 10 miles from the Great Salt Lake, Ogden, Utah, is home to almost 87,000 people. Weber State University and the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College provide higher education resources for this diverse demographic, and local high schools include Ogden High, Ben Lomond, and Saint Joseph Catholic High School.

One of the largest employers in the area is the Internal Revenue Service, which employs over 5,000 people. Other large employers include McKay Dee Hospital, Ogden City School District, Weber State University, Fresenius, and Autoliv. The city is also home to a large industrial area and America First Credit Union, Bank of Utah, Autoliv North American, and MarketStar are all headquartered in the city.

In Ogden, Utah, the median household income is significantly lower than the state’s average. In 2016, Ogden residents made a median of $44,381, while the rest of the state had a median of $65,977. The average home price is over $100,000 less in Ogden than the rest of Utah.

Ogden is made up of a diverse population.

• 4% White
• 6%t Hispanic
• 5% of two or more races
• 5% Black
• 4% Asian
• 1% American Indian
• .08% Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian

In 2016, Ogden’s crime index came in at 384.0, with the national average at 280.5, highlighting the significant occurrence of robberies, rapes, murders, assaults, burglaries, and other crimes in the area. There are more officers per resident in Ogden than the Utah average, but crime rates continue to climb over the years due to poverty, drugs, and other societal issues.

Unemployment rates are higher in Ogden than they are in the rest of Utah. Utah boasts a low unemployment rate of 3.3%, while Ogden sits much higher at 4.1%. The most common employment industries include construction, manufacturing, retail trade, waste management services and administrative and support, educational services, accommodation and food services, and public administration.

Mental Health Resources in Ogden, Utah

In Utah, Ogden ranks around the middle when it comes to cities with high rates of doctor-diagnosed depression. According to experts, downtown Ogden has a rate of 26.7%, falling in line with the fact that self-reported cases of lifetime depression are consistently higher in Utah than throughout the rest of the country.

Data also shows that those with a mental illness in Ogden are more likely to have chronic pain or a chronic illness. The physical pain combined with the emotional and mental anguish related to depression can lead to addiction and dependence on alcohol, drugs, and other harmful behaviors.

Since 1999, Utah’s suicide rate has gone up 46.5%. Suicide rates in Utah are consistently and significantly higher than the national average. The National Center for Health Statistics reported the age-adjusted suicide rate in Utah in 2016 at 21.6 per 100,000 people, while the rate for the rest of the country was 13.4 per 100,000.

Suicide is often linked to mental health, and for a population that has a hard time finding treatment, this is a result that is all too common. According to the last Census Report, almost 20% of the population under 65 years of age in Ogden is without health insurance. This makes it extremely difficult to seek out treatment for any type of illness and complicates the process of obtaining help for improved mental health.

Utah has several large centers for diagnosing and treating mental health, although obtaining access to a specialist can be challenging with a country-wide shortage of psychiatrists. Ogden is home to Weber Human Services, McKay Dee Hospital Behavioral Health Center, and the Ogden Clinic. All these places provide some type of inpatient and outpatient treatment for disorders such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.