Report · Health

When mental health declines, people turn to healthcare providers first

Reading

If their mental health worsens, most Americans (62%) would turn first to a healthcare provider, according to an August 2025 Verasight survey.

About one-in-five (21%) would lean on family and friends, and one-in-ten (10%) would do nothing, expecting the problem to pass on its own. Medication is a distant first resort: 5% would take a federally approved drug and 3% something else.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

When mental health declines, people turn to healthcare providers first.

If you experience your mental health getting worse, what would you do first to address it?

  • Seek help from a healthcare provider 61.5%
  • Seek help from family and friends 20.5%
  • Do nothing, expecting my problems to go away on their own 9.9%
  • Take a federally approved medication 4.8%
  • Take a drug other than a federally approved medication 3.3%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.1%

Verasight JSM Omnibus Survey

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-08-13 → 2025-08-18
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.1%
Module
Verasight JSM Omnibus Survey

Source

Citation

Verasight JSM Omnibus Survey, fielded August 13-18, 2025, N=1,000 United States adults, +/- 3.1%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/jsm-2025

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.