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

Canonical page: https://data.verasight.io/health/when-mental-health-declines-people-turn-to-healthcare-providers-first/

> Indexed question in Health.

## 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

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

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

- 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%

## Methodology

- Mode: Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
- Population: United States adults
- Field dates: 2025-08-13 → 2025-08-18
- Base (unweighted): 1,000
- Margin of error: +/- 3.1%
- Module: Verasight JSM Omnibus Survey
- Sponsor: Verasight
- Weight variable: weight
- Weighting targets: age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

## Source

- Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/jsm-2025#actions-to-address-mental-health](https://reports.verasight.io/r/jsm-2025#actions-to-address-mental-health)

## Citation

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

Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/jsm-2025#actions-to-address-mental-health](https://reports.verasight.io/r/jsm-2025#actions-to-address-mental-health)