Nearly half of Americans have used mental health medication, so why are 68% still hesitant?
Nearly half of Americans have used mental health medication, so why are 68% still hesitant?
Next time youâre at a party, look around and consider this: Nearly half of the people in the room have probably taken mental health medication at some point. Still, most people feel uneasy about it.
Thatâs one of the central findings in âthe third annual nationally representative survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, conducted by Wakefield Research in March 2026âwhere 47% of Americans say theyâve been prescribed mental health medication at some point, yet 68% of people still have at least one hesitation about taking it.
âOnce clients start opening up, they find out about half of their network is already on medications for mental health and they just never knew because we still have some stigma there,â said , licensed clinical social worker and clinical programs director at Thriveworks. That stigma might be growing thanks to a steady stream of misinformation coming out of everyone from social media influencers to politicians.
talked to three clinical experts about where these hesitations around mental health medications come from and how mental health providers can help people feel comfortable getting whatever kind of support they need.
Whoâs using medicationâand who isnât?
Mental health medication has become a mainstream experience, even if we rarely talk about it that way. Nearly half (47%) of Americans say theyâve been prescribed it at some point, with 24% currently taking it and 23% previously prescribed it.
But most people still see medication as a supporting player in the realm of mental health care: Talk therapy remains the primary preference, with 51% of people saying thatâs the type of care theyâre most likely to seek, followed by a combined approach of therapy and medication (35%), and medication alone being the least popular approach (14%).
Hereâs how medication views differ by age, life circumstances, and demographics:
Generational breakdown
Millennials are the most likely to have used mental health medication (64%), followed by Gen Z (50%), while only one-third of Boomers have used it. But oddly enough, the younger generations are actually more hesitant of mental health meds than their elders, with 80% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennials having at least one reservation about medication, compared with 56% of Boomers.
Dumler wonders if this is driven by wellness trends online. âThe younger generations are really focused on health and wellness overall, and thereâs a lot of noise around natural support and avoiding traditional medication,â she explained.
Parents vs. nonparents
Parents are far more likely than nonparents to have tried medication (58% versus 41%), which likely speaks to how life stressors may affect your need for support. âI often see medication used as a helpful tool during periods of significant life transition, whether thatâs starting a new job, experiencing a major loss, or recovering from a traumatic event,â Dumler said. âParenthood is another major life transition. Many have used medication temporarily during previous challenging seasons and find it to be a helpful support again while navigating the busy, ever-changing early years of parenting.â
Cultural differences
The clinicians werenât surprised to see that there were differences among cultural and racial backgrounds, most notably that Black adults had the lowest use rate of medications (36%) and that Hispanic adults had the highest hesitation rate (78%).
For many people, the hesitation is inheritedâshaped by how mental health was understood, or avoided, in the communities and families they grew up in. âIn some cultures, it can be seen as a weakness to need medication or mental health support. For some itâs around privacyâsharing whatâs challenging, or about your family history, can feel like youâre breaking the trust of your family,â Dumler said.
And for some, it likely circles back to bigger systemic problems in America. âItâs a really existentially threatening time to be in any kind of underrepresented, marginalized, or minority population in this country,â said , psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and vice president of clinical psychiatry at Thriveworks. âIt would not surprise me at all if people were feeling more reluctant to access care.â
Fears of side effects are top of mind, but often overblown
The most common concern Americans have about mental health medications is the potential for side effects and long-term dependency, with 36% of survey respondents listing this hesitation.
While side effects are possible with any medication, the clinicians we spoke with said that many of these fears are overblown and largely a symptom of too much information. For starters, thereâs the ubiquity of pharmaceutical commercials naming a long list of side effects that few patients actually experience.
âIn any clinical trial, theyâre required to report every side effect that happened during that entire trial. So if somebody just had a headache because they were dehydrated, they still put that down,â Hanselman explained. Older generations have another layer to work through: Their frame of reference is often an earlier era of psych meds that genuinely did carry harsher side effects.
Then thereâs everything you read on the internet. , licensed mental health counselor at Thriveworks, sees a lot of her clientsâ side effect concerns coming from Googling or asking artificial intelligence about the meds theyâre considering. They read about one personâs bad experience and assume theyâll have the sameâespecially when a mental health challenge is already amping up their anxiety. It can make it hard to remember that bodies respond differently, and that finding a medication where the benefits outweigh any downsides is exactly what a psychiatrist is there for.
âNo medication is one-size-fits-all,â Dumler said. âMost people will try a couple of different medications, and theyâll often find one that has very minimal to zero side effects.â
The fear of long-term dependency is a little more complicated to unpack
Concerns about becoming dependent on a mental health medication likely stem from a few different factors. For starters, some worry that theyâll experience . What theyâre actually referring to is something called , which can occur if an SSRI is tapered or discontinued too quickly. This doesnât indicate dependence or addiction, but simply a need to slow down medication changes.
Others may worry about the habit-forming potential of certain mental health meds, like . These medications do carry a risk of dependence, which is why they are classified as Schedule II controlled substances and are monitored carefully. When prescribed and managed appropriately, dependence should not occur.
Finally, some people just worry about starting a mental health medication without knowing how long theyâll need to take it. The truth of that is: It depends. While not the case for everyone, some people do stay on mental health medications long-term if itâs the best way to manage their symptoms, Hanselman says, and being on a medication long-term isnât any better or worse than taking it for a short time.
American individualism runs deep and is affecting our ability to ask for help
Not every hesitation is about the medication itself. For nearly a quarter of Americans (24%), the holdup is a belief that they should be able to handle their mental health on their own. Itâs a common stigma associated with mental health medications, and itâs one that clinicians trace back to the core of American culture.
âWeâre very âbootstrappyâ as Americans,â Hanselman said. âHard work is praised. So if youâre not feeling your best, well, go figure it out, suck it up, do better. It gets really harmful because people donât give themselves permission to accept help.â
And while this may seem like an antiquated opinion, Millennials and Gen Z (29%) were actually more likely to report this hesitation than Boomers (20%). âThereâs a difference between âI can acknowledge Iâm having a hard timeââwhich the younger generations are anecdotally better atâversus âI should be able to handle this,ââ Hanselman said, noting that internet culture may be contributing to the pressure to figure things out on your own.
How to address medication hesitations in mental health care
Remind patients that theyâre in the driverâs seat
Hanselman likes to make sure her patients know that this is a collaborative approach thatâs truly driven by them.
âThis cannot be a paternalistic relationshipâwe have to work together because youâre the one living your life and taking your meds every day,â she said. âWe can move very, very slowly and minimize your risk of any side effects if youâre concerned. And if we see any side effects you donât like, we can slow it down, pause, or try something else. We have a ton of different options.â Knowing they can come to her if something goes wrong often gives her patients ease.
When patients are nervous to even take the first step of considering meds, Dumler points out that an appointment with a psychiatrist doesnât mean an automatic prescription. âI remind folks: You donât have to walk out of there with medication. Iâd love for you to just have a conversation and get your questions answered. Then youâve got all the information to make your own informed decision,â she said.
Compare mental health treatment to physical health treatment
For patients stuck on the idea that needing medication is a personal failing, clinicians reach for physical-health parallels. âBoth my dog and I took Zyrtec this morning because our allergies are not very friendly right now,â Kritsas said. âI would never think taking Zyrtec is a bad thing because itâs âjust a crutch.â Itâs another tool in our toolbox, another coping mechanism. Itâs not the one end-all, be-allâbut therapy probably wonât be the one end-all, be-all either. So why wouldnât we try both things together?â
Helping patients access affordable care
While not a dominant hesitation, 14% of people cited cost or insurance and 7% cited difficulty finding a provider as barriers to trying medication. âThere are folks who are low-coverage, underinsured, or not insured, and not all medication is covered by different plans,â Dumler said. âHealth care reform is always a challenge in the U.S. and is part of the story.â
Some of these cost problems can be improved with prescribing, Hanselman says, such as by opting for more affordable generic meds or completing a prior authorization to support medication coverage for a patient.
And if the barrier is finding a provider at all, the fix can be telehealth, or even pointing a patient to their existing provider. âI remind folks that are hesitant in terms of care costs, your primary care doctor is a great place to start,â Dumler said. âIf youâre not able to access a psychiatrist, having a conversation with your trusted family doctor is another great space to explore if medication could be helpful for you.â
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