Therapy Has Become the Default Answer to Everyday Stress and Social Connection, and Employers Are Paying for It

New global survey finds 71% of employees connect their reason for seeking care to workplace stress; half say better management would have resolved it. 60% say we’re overly reliant on therapy.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New global research from Modern Health, a leading global workplace mental health platform, finds that therapy has become the default response not only to clinical mental health needs but to everyday work stress and the simple need for someone to talk to, and employers are often financing a level of care many employees say they didn’t need.

The finding is not that therapy fails to support these stresses: 88% of respondents say it met their needs. The problem highlighted by the survey is that therapy seems to be serving as a catch-all solution for which it was never intended. When every kind of stress leads to the same door, people end up in clinical care for challenges that were never clinical, and often stay there long after it makes sense. This is an expensive outcome, disproportionate with the clinical need. The findings come from a survey of 2,000 full-time employees at companies with 250 or more employees, all of whom have used or are currently using therapy, surveyed across the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, and Singapore.

Benefit leaders are facing this against a fourth consecutive year of near double-digit increases with Business Group on Health reporting U.S. employer health care costs are projected to rise 9.2% in 2027. Mental health is in the top tier of conditions driving employer mental health care spend as utilization climbs and when untreated is associated with higher costs in other top claims areas including cancer, musculoskeletal, and cardiometabolic concerns. This survey suggests some of that spend is buying a level of care employees themselves say exceeded what they needed: 60% report therapy felt more intensive than they actually required.

“Rising use of mental health care is not itself the problem, it reflects needs that went unmet for too long and progress toward a more integrated healthcare system,” said Alison Borland, Chief People and Strategy Officer at Modern Health. “But when every emotional or behavioral health concern is routed to the same clinical option by default, and people remain in therapy after their needs change, employees do not get care that truly fits them best and employers end up paying for a level of support that isn’t best clinical practice. Therapy as default has a price, and both sides are paying it.”

Therapy Has Become the Default Response to Everyday Stress

Employees say the line between ordinary stress and clinical need is blurring: 78% say normal work frustrations are increasingly treated as mental health issues rather than a normal part of working life, and 76% say everyday stress is being treated as a medical problem requiring professional treatment. Seventy-six percent say therapy has become the default solution for problems past generations handled through friends, family, faith, or community, and 60% say people are overly reliant on therapy as the answer to every kind of stress. Sixty-four percent say therapy has become something of a status symbol, a way to signal self-awareness. Almost a quarter of employees (22%) are relying on their therapist for emotional support over their friends or family, rising to 51% in Mexico, and 42% globally are turning to therapy just for someone to talk to.

Employees feel the default at both ends of care, getting in and getting out. When it comes to initiating care, 57% say there has been a time they felt pressured to seek therapy even when they weren't sure they needed it. When it comes to transitioning out of therapy, many stayed past the point of need: 65% continued weekly sessions after they already felt improved, and 58% continued after meeting their goals because they were anxious about no longer having the ongoing support. Thirty-seven percent admit to exaggerating or embellishing their symptoms to justify continuing sessions or feel the appointment was “worth it”. Among those who continued past the point of feeling better, 25% say they simply assumed they were supposed to keep going indefinitely. Most employees equate employer-provided therapy with overuse: 81% predict people would be more likely to keep using therapy even after they have improved if it was fully covered by their employer.

"Therapy works, and these data indicate employees agree with that. But therapy cannot be a band-aid for rising social disconnection and loneliness," said Dr. Jessica Watrous, Chief Clinical Officer at Modern Health. "Good clinical care has a plan and a purpose, and part of that plan is knowing what progress looks like and what happens when someone reaches it. When more than a third of people feel they have to overstate how they're doing to keep a session on the calendar, that's a sign people have not been given a clear path to use it effectively or move between levels of support as their needs change. Too often models steer people into open-ended therapy because it serves their business, not because it’s the best fit for members, clinically appropriate, or sustainable for employers providing the benefit.”

Work Has Become the Leading Reason People Seek Care

Seventy-one percent directly link their need for therapy or coaching to workplace stress, including 65% in the U.S. Managing everyday stressors is the leading reason employees seek therapy globally (42%) and in the U.S. (47%). Employees are not only seeking therapy for clinical needs: 31% sought it for skills to manage stress or perform better at work, while 28% sought support managing difficult colleagues or workplace situations. The pattern shifts by region: in Singapore, the top reason for therapy is work-related skill-building (43%), while in the U.K. it is someone to talk to (39%), and in Mexico it is family and relationship support (47%). A staggering 93% globally say they would rather their employer invested in support that prevented burnout before it starts.

Managers Weren't Trained for This, So Employees Look Elsewhere

Among the 71% of employees who seek out therapy or coaching because of workplace stress, more than half (51%) say all or most of that stress could have been solved by guidance or action from a manager - clearer communication, reasonable workloads, better leadership - rather than professional therapy.

Yet many employees are not bringing that stress to their managers. More than one-third of employees (35%) sought out therapy or coaching because of workplace stress instead of speaking with their manager or HR.

The reasons are consistent: 42% say managers are too focused on productivity and efficiency to prioritize well-being (top cause in the U.S.), 41% don't feel it's appropriate to bring personal or emotional topics to a manager (top cause in the U.K., Mexico, and Singapore), and 33% say their manager doesn't seem comfortable with these conversations. Thirty-seven percent worried it would be held against them in promotions, reviews, or layoffs, and 30% say their manager has never been trained to discuss workplace well-being at all.

"For decades, employers treated workplace stress as something that began at home and followed people into work," said Matt Levin, CEO of Modern Health. "The data show the reverse is also true. Work is now a leading reason people seek care. And too often, employees end up in a therapist's chair for something a well-equipped manager could have solved at the source: a heavy workload, an unclear expectation, a hard conversation nobody had. Managers need real support and training to catch that stress and address it appropriately."

AI Anxiety Is Adding a New Source of Workplace Strain

AI is a new and distinct source of workplace stress: 43% of employees say anxiety about AI replacing their job or changing their role has contributed to their need for therapy or coaching. That ranges from 65% in Singapore, to 39% in the U.S. and 35% in the U.K. AI anxiety is higher among Millennials (47%) and Gen Z (46%).

It’s clear that employees are not looking to AI to replace human care. Sixty-eight percent say they would definitely or probably not trust AI to replace a therapist, rising to 72% in the U.S. and UK.

Coaching is the Underused Middle Ground

Employees see coaching as a better fit for many of the everyday pressures now landing in therapy, yet many still don’t have a clear picture of what it is. Ninety percent say a lack of understanding about coaching may keep people from using it, and 38% still associate it mostly with executives and wealthy employees. Even so, 83% believe some of what they've brought to therapy could have been addressed through coaching. Everyday stress (57%), work-related stress (53%), work-life balance (52%), and self-confidence, habits, and accountability (50%) top the list of what they'd use it for.

Coaching is also reaching the employees least likely to ask for help. One-third of men say stigma or embarrassment stopped them from getting therapy when they wanted it. Twice as many men as women report currently using coaching, while therapy use between the two is nearly even. Eighty-seven percent of men say most or some of the issues they brought to therapy could have been effectively addressed through coaching, and 86% agree coaching is becoming the next stage of professional development.

Seventy-two percent of employees overall say they would use a workplace coach in lieu of therapy if it were offered, 85% say access to both would be helpful, and 92% agree that using a coach can make people more comfortable eventually trying therapy when they need it. Coaching also carries less friction: 87% say people feel less stigma using a coach than a therapist, and 82% say coaching feels more approachable. Almost three-quarters (74%) say people who use coaches are more likely to be high achievers.

"Coaching and therapy aren't competing for the same job, they're built for different moments," continued Watrous. "Coaching is a powerful tool for the everyday stress, habits, and skill-building that make up so much of what employees bring to work. But it isn't a clinical substitute. The goal is to give people access to multiple effective ways to take care of their mental health so they can be fully engaged with their own lives, and that will look different for different people dealing with different concerns.”

To learn more, download the full global report here.

About Modern Health

Modern Health is a global leader in adaptive mental health care, dynamically offering multi-modal mental health support that delivers meaningful outcomes at a sustainable, predictable cost. With therapy, psychiatry, coaching, community groups, self-guided tools, and crisis support we dynamically create individualized care journeys to address a spectrum of mental health needs and preferences with culturally responsive providers in 200+ countries and territories and 80+ languages. Backed by peer-reviewed research and a proprietary blend of technology and live support, Modern Health delivers measurable outcomes, globally equitable access, and sustainable pricing. Our industry-leading Adaptive Care Model and dedicated, human centered, operationally tuned, customer success partners make us a trusted partner for organizations worldwide.

Visit us at modernhealth.com to learn how we can help you optimize your people and your business.

Methodology

Modern Health commissioned this scientific random sample of 2,000 full-time employees (aged 22–60) at companies with 250 or more employees, all of whom have used or are currently using therapy. Respondents were surveyed August 3–9, 2026, across the U.S. (1,000, margin of error 3%), UK (400, margin of error 5%), Mexico (400, margin of error 5%), and Singapore (200, margin of error 7%); the global margin of error is 2% at 95% confidence. All respondents are currently employed for wages, confirmed by consumer-matched data. Sampling was calibrated to obtain a representative demographic sample. DKC Analytics conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web. No post-stratification has been applied to the results.