A NAMI-Ipsos poll conducted in January 2025, which focused on full-time workers employed at companies across industries with at least 100 employees, found that the workforce believes mental health at work to be important but are in need of more information and support from leadership.
Read on to learn more about this year’s findings covering employee awareness, workplace cultures, and access to care.
Jump to Key Findings:
- Acceptance for Others and Stigma and Fear for Ourselves
- Employee Mental Health Awareness and Education
- Culture of Caring in American Workplaces
- Access to Services, Care, and Support
- Infographic
- Resources
Acceptance for Others and Stigma and Fear for Ourselves
The results of the 2025 Workplace Mental Health poll show that many respondents are supportive of their coworkers’ mental health concerns, but stigma remains a barrier to the way workers navigate their own mental health needs. What the data shows:
- How do American workers support their colleagues’ mental health?
- 77% of respondents report they would feel comfortable if their coworker talked to them about their mental health.
- Similarly, nearly three in four employees feel comfortable supporting a coworker’s mental health crisis.
- 22% of employees at the manager level report that they don’t know whether their employer offers mental health benefits. Additionally, 45% of employees at the manager level say they don’t know how to access mental health care through employer-sponsored health insurance.
- How do American workers address their own mental health at work?
- 42% worry their career would be negatively impacted if they talked about mental health concerns in the workplace.
- Nearly half of employees say they worry about being judged if they share mental health struggles with their colleagues.
- Employees share high rates of “burnout,” “stress,” and “overwhelm,” while far fewer rate their “mental health” as poor, suggesting a possible discomfort in identifying themselves as struggling with their mental health.
- One in four employees say they have considered quitting their jobs due to mental health concerns, and 7% did quit because of related challenges.
- Only 13% say they told their manager or supervisor their mental health was suffering in the past year due to work demands.
Employee Mental Health Awareness and Education
The data shows that the workforce as a whole is experiencing stress about work, and they need more information. Here’s what the data shows about awareness and education:
- How much do employees know about mental health care benefits at work?
- About a quarter of respondents shared that they do not know whether their employer offers mental health care benefits, an employee assistance program, flexible work arrangements, or sick days for mental health.
- Meanwhile, more than 8/10 respondents report these benefits are or would be important to creating a positive workplace culture.
- About a quarter of respondents shared that they do not know whether their employer offers mental health care benefits, an employee assistance program, flexible work arrangements, or sick days for mental health.
- How important are mental health trainings at work?
- While more than half of respondents report their workplace has mental health and well-being trainings, only 11% require employees to complete the training.
- Although this is evidently not a required training for most respondents, more than 80% believe mental health and well-being trainings are important to create a positive workplace culture.
- More than half of respondents who receive training about mental health and/or resources available report it helped them feel more comfortable talking about mental health with coworkers.
- When employees receive training about mental health and mental health care benefits, they report a 10-point decrease in their worries about being judged if they share about their mental health with colleagues (49% without trainings, 39% with trainings).
- In terms of employee productivity, employees at workplaces that offer mental health training are less likely to report their productivity at work has suffered because of their mental health (38% in workplaces without such training report their productivity has suffered vs. 21% of those in workplaces with training).
- While more than half of respondents report their workplace has mental health and well-being trainings, only 11% require employees to complete the training.
Culture of Caring in American Workplaces
In our workplaces, reducing stigma around mental health might mean pulling back the curtain and sharing our experiences. But American workers aren’t sure their workplaces are safe places to talk about mental health. Here’s what the data has to say:
- Does the workforce think it’s appropriate to discuss mental health concerns at work?
- Three in four American workers feel it is appropriate to talk about mental health concerns at work.
- However, similar to 2024, two in five respondents worry they would be judged if they shared about their mental health at work, indicating perceived stigma surrounding mental health at work did not decline in the past year.
- Who can workers talk to about mental health at work?
- More than half of total workforce respondents feel comfortable discussing mental health with a close friend at work or their manager.
- Just over half of the workforce believes their company makes its workers’ mental health a priority, or that senior leadership cares about them personally.
- What are members of the American workforce stressed about?
- Employees are more stressed about their finances, physical health, and mental health.
- Seven in ten Americans in the workforce are stressed about the state of the world.
- Almost half of employees are stressed about finances, but the total workforce experiences more stress about this than Executives do.
- Both physical health and mental health are bigger stressors for the total workforce than for the Executive respondents.
- Employees are more stressed about their finances, physical health, and mental health.
- What do Americans share about at work?
- The total workforce respondents shared that nearly three in four felt comfortable sharing about their physical health – but less than six in ten felt they could share about their mental health.
- For those who say they feel uncomfortable discussing mental health at work, the top five reasons include 1) stigma or judgment around mental health, 2) lack of discussion from colleagues, 3) not wanting to appear weak, 4) fear of losing opportunities or retaliation, and 5) their job is a main factor affecting their mental health
Access to Services, Care, and Support
The data shows that many workers crave information about the mental health resources available to them. In this data, there are some steps workplace leaders can take to ensure their workers are prepared. Find out what information or training would help:
- How does the American workforce feel about employer-sponsored access to mental health care?
- While 77% of respondents are satisfied with their overall health care insurance benefits, 68% are satisfied with mental health care benefits.
- Both entry level and younger employees (under age 30) are less satisfied with workplace benefits than their more senior counterparts.
- Satisfaction with employee benefits are higher among those who used their workplace’s mental health benefits in the last year.
- Where does the workforce access mental health care and support through work?
- Only half the workforce knows how to access mental health care through their employer-sponsored health insurance.
- Consistent with 2024 results, just over 20% of respondents receive training about mental health conditions or symptoms, indicating a need for more knowledge in order to reduce stigma.
- Roughly four in five respondents report that it would help them to receive information or training about employer health insurance benefits for mental health treatment, stress or burnout management, identifying and responding to a mental health crisis, and mental health condition signs and symptoms.
Infographic:
Resources:
- Press Release: New NAMI Poll Finds Employees Reluctant to Discuss Their Mental Health at Work
- NAMI StigmaFree: Workplace mental health resources
- Ipsos: Employees want more workplace mental health resources
- Learn about NAMI StigmaFree’s Workplace Advisory Council
- Poll Topline Results & Methodology
- Poll Research Slide Deck
- View 2024 Workplace Mental Health poll results
This NAMI/Ipsos poll was conducted January 21-27, 2025, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 2,376 general population adults, age 18 or older, who are employed full-time and work at a business or company with at least 100 employees. This sample includes 104 executives. The 104 executives in the sample include an oversample of N=31 executives.
