Encinitas, California Therapists

An Overview of Mental Health in Encinitas, California

If you want all the beauty and benefits of San Diego County without the crowds and the traffic of the city proper, consider Encinitas, California. Just 25 miles north of San Diego, this community maintains a small-town feel with the laid-back vibe of a surfer culture. Besides the plentiful sand and sun, Encinitas has a low crime rate (123.3 incidents per 100,000 in the population) as compared to the United States average (280.5 per 100,000). As a bonus, Encinitas has made it a point to preserve the downtown area and avoid the over-commercialization that often befalls oceanfront areas.

The preservation of Encinitas is the work of the people who live there. As of July 2017, Encinitas was home to 63,184 individuals. The population is predominantly white and young with a median age of 40 as of 2016, and they’re well-educated compared to people in surrounding communities. An impressive 94.7% of the residents finished high school, and more than 60% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. The median household income is $103,842, which far exceeds that of the county as a whole ($66,529) and that of the state ($63,783). The poverty rate of around 7% is much lower than in the surrounding area.

Because the county is so large and diverse, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) divides the area into six geographic areas: Central, East, North Central, North Coastal, North Inland, and South. The Encinitas area is in the northern part of the county and is primarily served by North County Health Services (NCHS) for mental and behavioral health. Outside of the facility setting, many individual counselors and therapists are available through their private practices. These licensed professionals assist citizens with anxiety, depression, attention disorders, and more. Services are available for all ages and stages of life from infancy to the elderly.

Addictions in Encinitas, California

As beautiful as Encinitas is, the city’s residents still struggle with addictions and the associated mental health difficulties. In the communities in and around San Diego, opioid addiction killed 150 residents between 2008 and 2015. Emergency room visits for opioid use and/or abuse tripled between 2006 and 2014 among those in their twenties and thirties. The epidemic has hit males especially hard. Men make up two-thirds of the deaths and emergency room visits related to the opioid crisis. As the presence of fentanyl and its synthetic sisters grows on the market, the death toll will likely increase.

While addiction and substance abuse were once considered the result of criminal activity and failures of character, modern treatment approaches acknowledge that these are forms of mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that these difficulties often occur alongside another diagnosis, which may indicate that the person is self-medicating a mental health disorder with an addictive substance. If the use of drugs or alcohol has taken over a person’s life to the point that he or she neglects family, employment, hobbies, and other activities of daily living, it’s time to seek help.

Encinitas has significant resources to help those struggling with such co-occurring disorders. North County Health Services offers an assessment and referral service. Scripps offers inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services at multiple sites throughout the county. San Diego Health & Human Services Agency offers a toll-free access and crisis line around the clock, seven days a week to connect those seeking help with appropriate services. Crestwood Behavioral Health in San Diego operates a Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (MHRC), Hummingbird Healing House, Social Rehabilitation, and other services in a continuum to address addiction and other diagnoses.