The State of Mental Health in L.A.

It’s no secret that, when it comes to our overall well being, mental health is just as important as physical health. And with over 44 million Americans having a mental health condition today, it’s highly likely that you, or someone you know struggles with to maintain good mental health, in one way or another. And if you, or a loved one, has battled depression, anxiety, a mood disorder, or anything in between, you’ve likely learned that no community or city is immune to mental illness.

There are, however, some cities in the U.S. that have worse mental health than others. And as it turns out, L.A. is one of the worst cities in the country when it comes to mental health.

According to a recent study on the mental health of people across the country, Los Angeles is the fifth-worst city for overall mental health, with a score of 17.5 out of 100.

And while it’s hard to know for certain why those from Los Angeles have such poor mental health compared to the inhabitants of most other U.S. cities, there are a couple of key factors that are reflected in this low score.

First, Los Angeles has some of the highest rates of depression in the country, with nearly 30% of people saying they feel depressed. The only cities in the country that are even more depressed than L.A. are Phoenix, Fresno, Las Vegas, Tucson, Oklahoma City, and Fort Worth.

On a related note, Los Angeles is even higher on the list of cities with high percentages of suicidal thoughts than on those with high rates of depression. In fact, Los Angeles locals have the highest rates of suicidal thoughts in the country, with almost 5% of the city’s total population admitting to “having thoughts that they would be better off dead.”

And, on top of that, those from Los Angeles are much more likely to “consistently feel tired” or to “have low energy.” In fact, over half of Los Angeles locals say they feel this way. And these numbers might explain the city’s high depression rates as well, given the well-established links between poor sleep and depression and anxiety.

The only mental health measure that L.A. faired well in was the cities that “feel bad about themselves” category. Thankfully, Los Angeles locals must feel alright -- or perhaps even good -- about themselves, as they didn’t make the worst cities cut here.

Though, all in all, Los Angeles is one of the worst cities in the country in terms of mental health, there are plenty of resources available to those in L.A. who struggle with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH), for example, directly runs over 80 programs and contracts with more than 700 providers, such as non-governmental agencies and individual practitioners who provide a variety of mental health services to L.A. locals in the journey towards overall wellness.

But if you’re struggling with a mental health issue -- whether in L.A. or elsewhere -- and don’t feel comfortable exploring the resources in your community, you can always take advantage of one of the many free resources offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. From suicide prevention hotline to Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance to the online tools available through the International OCD Foundation, if you need to talk, there’s always someone to listen.