Can I talk to you about my mental health?

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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.