The Shocking Reasons Less Than 7% Of People Get Mental Health Help
Last Updated on 5 December 2025
A recent paper uncovered that just 6.9% of people with mental health disorders seek professional help. It’s a shocking revelation that indicates a considerable problem in the mental health landscape. Despite mental health conditions receiving more attention and spotlight, people still struggle to reach out and seek help.
This statistic also creates one significant question: why?
Why do people shy away from getting guidance when it comes to their mental health? To give you more context behind the initial figure, 61% of people say they seek general healthcare services when they’re physically sick. That’s a huge gulf – almost ten times as many people will willingly visit a doctor or book a checkup when they have a regular health issue. From this, we can deduce that it’s maybe not a case of being afraid of getting help, so what are the main causes behind this lack of mental health help?
The Cost Of Mental Health Treatment
By far and away the number one reason people don’t get help with mental health conditions is the cost of treatment. This is because mental health treatments often fall under a gray area where your health insurance is concerned. Some providers don’t include it under your premium, meaning you have to pay out of pocket to get the guidance you need. It’s a massive shame – especially given how many people suffer from mental health trauma.
The good news is that things are changing. Anyone can search online for online therapy that accepts my insurance and receive loads of great results. There’s definitely been a shift towards making mental health services more affordable, so hopefully this expands even further in the coming years.
If people know they can use their health insurance coverage to seek counselling or other mental health treatments, there’s an assumption that more will do so. It’s a big shame that money is the main factor getting in the way of things, but perhaps this won’t be the case for much longer.
Assuming No Help Is Needed
You can link this to the idea of there being a stigma surrounding mental health. It’s got better over the last decade, for sure, but people still feel ashamed about having a mental health condition. For whatever reason, there’s nothing wrong with having a problem like IBS or high cholesterol, yet you’re more inclined to avoid telling people about depression or anxiety.
As a consequence, loads of people will never seek help because they assume they don’t need it. They think they can handle their issues alone without getting the right mental health treatment. It’s an incredibly backwards way of thinking – again, you’d never assume that you could treat a physical health condition on your own, so why is it different with your mental health?
We lose too many loved ones to things like anxiety and depression every year, and it’s partially because they don’t feel the need to seek treatment. Let’s debunk any myths or misconceptions around mental health and encourage those who need help to seek help.
Not Knowing How To Get Help
Of all the reasons you’ll read about today, this is perhaps the most saddening. According to a report from Sapien Labs, 34% of people don’t get mental health help because they have no idea where to get it from. That is tragic when you consider how many people out there want to get help, but don’t have a clue where to begin.
How can this be possible?
Again, you can trace this back to the age-long stigma against mental health. When you grow up, your family and teachers tell you about doctors and general healthcare practitioners. Your parents will take you to your first dental appointment, and you will learn the importance of looking after your teeth. You then grow up knowing that you go to the dentist if you have any issues in and around your mouth. It’s common knowledge that visiting a doctor will help solve any physical health issues – but no one ever tells you what to do if you have a mental health problem.
So it starts from a young age, and by the time you realize you’ve got a particular issue, you don’t have a clue where to begin. Do you visit your doctor? Should you call a hotline? So many questions run through your mind to the point where you overthink and can’t come to a decision, deciding instead to ignore the issue.
We need to educate the younger generations to teach them how to seek mental health help. For the most part, you can call your doctor and explain the situation – they should be able to refer you to someone else. Or, there’s nothing wrong with ringing mental health support hotlines or contacting a charity. As noted earlier, you’re also in a position where searching for mental health counselling online is possible. There’s almost no “wrong” way to get help, other than doing nothing at all.
A Lack Of Confidence In The Treatment
The same report from Sapien Labs also found that close to 40% of respondents cited a lack of confidence in mental health treatment as their reason for not seeking it. This is an interesting one because it assumes the knowledge of where to get help, but also that the help isn’t good enough.
Medication is the big factor at play here. People are worried about seeking mental health treatment and being prescribed medication that they have to take for the rest of their lives. A valid concern – but you should be aware that mental health treatment comes in multiple forms. You’re also never forced to take medication if you don’t want to. General therapy, CBT, and other treatments are readily available for those who don’t wish to rely on prescription medication.
It is genuinely worrying how few people will actively seek help for their mental health conditions. We need to start treating our mental health in the same way as our physical health. If you have a problem or are experiencing any worrying symptoms, then talk to someone about it. Don’t be afraid to seek help because it’ll be the best thing you ever do.