U.S. workers struggle to find mental health solution, study finds
The mental health of U.S. workers is “at its lowest point in five months,” TELUS Health reported.
U.S. workers with mental health conditions spend months searching for effective treatments, a new study released by TELUS Health, a Canada-based health technology company, revealed.
Nearly half of U.S. workers tried multiple medications or dosages before finding an effective solution, the July 2023 study found. Among workers who have tried medication for a mental health condition, 45% said they tried more than one medication before getting relief.
This process of trial and error often takes months to complete, with nearly one third of U.S. workers reporting that it took more than a year to find an effective treatment for their mental health condition, according to the study.
Another one third of U.S. workers said finding the right mental health treatment took four to six months. The time needed to find effective treatments is of growing concern as the mental health of U.S. workers continues to decline.
The mental health of U.S. workers is “at its lowest point in five months.” The majority of American workers face a moderate to high mental health risk. Twenty-four percent of American workers have a high mental health risk, as defined by TELUS Health. Another 41% were classified at a moderate risk level.
Since the start of the pandemic, the number of U.S. workers with moderate to high mental health risk levels has decreased only marginally. The study found that the number of workers with a high mental health risk had decreased by only 3% since the start of COVID-19.
Nearly 26% of U.S. workers have tried medication as one form of treatment for a mental health condition – of which women were 50% more likely than men to have taken a prescription medication, the study found.
Workers under the age of 40 were also found to be two times more likely than workers over the age of 50 to have taken prescription medication for a mental health condition. Many U.S. workers continue to struggle to find the right medication to fit their mental health needs. According to the study, 11% of workers reported that they were still trying to find an effective medication to treat their mental health condition.
The mental health score of workers still searching for answers is 31 points lower than the national average and nearly 24 points lower than workers whose first medication or dosage was effective, TELUS Health recorded.
As the mental health of U.S. workers continues to fall, more solutions to finding efficient and effective treatments will become necessary.