A “triple squeeze,” as described by Rula, keeps struggling people from getting help. 

By Gillian Manning 

Mental health issues are common, making care, like traditional healthcare, an essential need for many—exemplified by the fact that 31.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime and an estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder in any given year, according to the National Institutes of Health.  

However, a new survey from the therapy platform Rula reports that access to mental healthcare has declined from 50% in 2025 to 47.4% in 2026. The biggest barrier to accessing care is money, as cited by more than 1 in 4 of the 2,000 survey participants. While 25% of respondents cited cost-related inaccessibility in 2025, 41% said the same in 2026.  

Cost is also the first factor in what Rula calls the “triple squeeze,” which breaks down to: 

  • high financial worry (cited by 34%); 
  • cutting back on therapy, gym, or wellness spending due to rising costs (50%); and 
  • feelings of exhaustion from trying to make finances stretch (54%). 

Some respondents (19%) report experiencing all three at once.  

“When people are worried about affording their daily needs, the perceived cost of therapy will inevitably deter them from seeking care,” Rula’s report says. “This creates a pernicious feedback loop in which people could greatly benefit from support, but they lack the financial empowerment and emotional energy to take the next step.” 

Leaders can also become educators and guiders, as other barriers to entry for care include: 

  • being unsure of which therapy is best for them (37%); 
  • gender, as women are more likely than men to seek support for anxiety (13%), depression (10%), and burnout (10%); and 
  • stigma, as 43% of respondents have avoided telling managers about their mental health challenges, 81% of whom miss work. 

“[E]mployers must take a more proactive role in making mental health support visible, accessible, and normalized across their organizations,” Rula says. “This means clearly marketing 
 available resources, reducing friction in how employees access care, and ensuring that support is available without requiring disclosure. True accessibility comes from making it easy, expected, and stigma-free for employees to get the help they need, on their own terms.” 

Looking to dive deeper? We keep an ever-growing archive of HRO Today Association member webinars. Watch now: “Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting the Good Ones to Stay.”

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