Half of Americans or more say they are extremely or very comfortable talking about their mental health with a close friend (57%), an immediate family member (52%) or a mental health therapist (50%), according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
In the United States, the importance of mental health and emotional well-being has grown increasingly visible, particularly in light of the mental health challenges many Americans faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health professionals encourage people to turn to a trusted support network to weather life’s difficult moments, so we asked U.S. adults about who they feel they can open up to about their mental health.
Still, not all Americans are comfortable talking about their mental health with people close to them or with professionals. About three-in-ten U.S. adults (31%) say they would be only somewhat comfortable talking with a close friend about their mental health, and an additional 12% would be not too or not at all comfortable with this. Similar shares say this about discussing mental health with an immediate family member or a therapist.
When it comes to other people Americans might open up to about their mental health, comfort levels vary:
Significant others are seen as a source of support for most people who are married or living with a partner. A large majority of these Americans (79%) are extremely or very comfortable talking about their mental health with their spouse or partner. This is the highest level of comfort across the types of people we asked about.
However, this source of support is not available to all adults. About four-in-ten Americans say they are not married nor living with a partner, while roughly six-in-ten say they are.
Americans who frequently attend religious services are largely comfortable discussing their mental health with faith leaders. Overall, 31% of U.S. adults say they would feel extremely or very comfortable talking about this with a spiritual or religious leader. But comfort is much higher among adults who report attending religious services at least once a week: 58% of regular attenders would be comfortable talking about their mental health with a religious leader.
Americans largely feel uncomfortable talking about their mental health with colleagues or neighbors. Nearly half of working Americans (48%) say they would feel not too or not at all comfortable talking about this with a co-worker. And roughly two-thirds of Americans overall (68%) would be uncomfortable talking about their mental health with a neighbor.
Modest differences by gender and age
We did not find large differences in comfort talking about mental health by gender or age, even though these factors are related to the likelihood of experiencing certain mental health conditions.
For example, similar shares of women (53%) and men (47%) say they are extremely or very comfortable talking to a therapist about their mental health. And women and men rank the seven sources of support included in the survey in the same order.
Differences are also modest across age groups. Adults ages 18 to 29 and those ages 65 and older express similar levels of comfort talking about their mental health with a close friend, immediate family member or therapist.
Networks of social support
Health experts say having diverse, supportive relationships can enhance emotional well-being. Our survey offers a mixed picture of the networks Americans turn to for talking about mental health.
On the one hand, nearly half of Americans (47%) say they are extremely or very comfortable having mental health conversations with three or more types of people included in the survey.
On the other hand, 15% of Americans are not extremely or very comfortable talking about their mental health with any of the types of people we asked about.
Between these two ends of the spectrum, 17% of Americans are comfortable talking about their mental health with only one of the types of people included in the survey, and 21% are comfortable doing so with two types of people.
The survey did not ask about the total number of people respondents are comfortable talking with about their mental health. Some respondents may only be comfortable with one type of contact – like a close friend – but could have more than one close friend they’d feel comfortable turning to.
Unpartnered U.S. adults are more likely than partnered U.S. adults to not be highly comfortable talking about their mental health with any of the types of people we asked about. Among Americans who are not married and don’t live with a partner, about a quarter (23%) are not extremely or very comfortable talking about their mental health with any of the people asked about in the survey. That’s larger than the share of married or partnered Americans who give this response (10%).
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