Fishers, Indiana Therapists

An Overview of Mental Health in Fishers, Indiana

Home to over 90,000 people, Fishers, Indiana, is a rapidly growing suburb of Indianapolis and has grown significantly over the last few decades. As one of the fastest-growing communities in America, the town boasts a diverse business sector, good healthcare, transportation assets, and affordable homes.

The median income in Fishers is over 40 thousand dollars higher than the state average, and the average home price in the city is almost double what the rest of the state reports. The city is predominantly white, with only 19.1 percent of people reporting as other races. Over 60 percent of the population is married, and the divorce rate hovers just below 10 percent. The city is made up mostly of ancestries from Germany, America, Ireland, Poland, England, and other parts of Europe.

Fishers, Indiana, is in Hamilton County, which has greater than average occurrences of natural disasters such as storms, floods, tornadoes, snows, winter storms, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, and snow storms. The unemployment rate is just under two percent, and almost 25 percent of the population has an undergraduate degree or higher. Despite the occurrence of the occasional natural disaster, Fishers is an upscale, safe place to live.

Crime rates are lower than the rest of the nation, with Fishers at 54.2 and the United States on average at 280.5. When the city realized that the number of suicides each year was higher than the number of homicides and how much attention the crime rates get over mental health rates, they began a campaign to help change that.

Despite the measures by the city to change the stigma attached to suicide and the benefits of living in a city like Fishers, those in the city face the same mental health issues that the rest of the country faces. While mental illnesses like depression and anxiety are linked to genetics, they are not limited to one type of person, one specific race, or any age. Mental illness can affect anyone at any time and getting help should be easy and fast.

One major problem is the shortage of specialists and psychiatrists throughout the country. With many more people seeking treatment for mental health, there are not enough professionals to keep up with the demand, and many times patients are forced to wait for weeks or months at a time before getting help.

Mental Health Resources in Fishers, Indiana

Experts estimate that almost 25 percent of Americans deal with some type of mental illness in a year, but only half will attempt to get help. Part of this is because of the stigma around mental health and another part is because it is often difficult to get access to mental health care. To decrease the stigma in Fishers and make it easier to get help, the Fishers Mental Health Task Force was created.

The goal of the task force is to increase training, coordinate care, and reduce stigma for those with mental illness. While the task force is getting up and running and working to close the gaps in mental health care treatment, residents still live in despair because of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and many other conditions that affect the behavior, thinking and mood.

Along with the Mental Health Task Force started by the city, residents can receive medical help through the St. Vincent Stress Center and the 24-hour crisis response line at Community Health Network in Indianapolis. Several therapists specialize in issues that face those in the LGBT+ community, those with chronic illness, and those with low self-esteem. Residents can choose from a cognitive approach to a spiritual one depending on what fits their beliefs.