This is the first in a series unpacking The Take: Wellbeing Edition, original research we conducted with 1,000 Americans to understand what’s really happening with mental, physical, financial, and professional wellbeing in 2025.

Here’s why we did this: everyone’s talking about wellbeing, but few are actually measuring what Americans want from it or how they’re really doing. Mental, physical, financial, and professional wellbeing are deeply connected, yet they’re often observed in isolation or through the lens of what companies want to sell rather than what people actually need. We wanted to understand where people actually are and what would genuinely help them.

We designed this study with the same rigor I used leading research at places like Google, Twitter and Pinterest: a nationally representative randomized sample sourced through Rep Data, statistical testing at both 90% and 95% confidence levels, and analysis that looks for the patterns underneath the numbers, not just reporting stats.

What we found: 75% of Americans have abandoned the peak performance mindset. They’re not trying to optimize their lives or chase some aspirational version of themselves, they’re just trying to feel steady within the lives they’re already living.

So what’s actually happening with mental health?

When we asked Americans about their top mental health goal, the answer wasn’t “be happier” or “find purpose” or any of the aspirational language we’ve been sold for the last decade. It was managing stress and anxiety; not thriving, not self-actualizing, just managing to get through the day without falling apart.

53% of Americans say therapy feels like a luxury, especially Gen Z and Millennials.

And for more than half the country, even that baseline support feels out of reach because therapy isn’t something you do when you’re ready to grow, it’s something you can’t afford when you’re barely staying afloat.

But here’s what really stood out to our team in the data: 52% of people told us they don’t have the words to explain what they’re feeling, and that number jumps to 61% for Gen Z.

Think about that for a second… we live in the most mental-health-aware generation in history, with all the language, the apps, the podcasts, the Instagram explainers at our fingertips, and still more than half of Americans can’t name what’s happening inside.

“I usually tell people I'm fine, but deep down inside I'm usually going through something. I just usually don't open up because it's like... what is anybody gonna do about what I'm feeling? So it's like everything gets bottled up."
- Gen Z Respondent

The voices behind the numbers tell the real story.

1 in 4 Americans say their mental health is worse today than it was a year ago, and for many that decline isn’t dramatic or sudden, it’s cumulative, made up of small erosions that add up over time into less sleep, more worry, and fewer moments of actual rest.

“I’m constantly overwhelmed. My day-to-day responsibilities are so draining that I dread waking up and having to pretend I’m as functional as anyone else every day.”
- Millennial Respondent

The barriers people face aren’t uniform either, which matters when we think about solutions. Cost is definitely a factor with 23% of men say the price of care keeps them from looking after their mental health. But, for women the barrier looks different, with 29% saying they put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own. Gen Z faces yet another problem entirely, where 1 in 3 don’t even know where to begin despite having access to more mental health resources than any generation before them, paralyzed by the sheer number of options available.

1 in 3 Gen Z say they don’t even know where to start when it comes to caring for their mental health

It’s not that help doesn’t exist, it’s that knowing where to start feels impossible when you’re already overwhelmed by everything else. The pattern across all of this is clear: people aren’t trying to get better (at least right now), they’re trying to get back to baseline. For most that still feels impossibly far away.

Here’s the problem: we’re solving for the wrong thing.

Mental health solutions are everywhere – apps, therapy platforms, workplace programs, breath work coaches, journaling prompts – and we’ve never had more tools at our disposal. Yet for most people, help still feels out of reach, and it’s not just about cost (though that’s real), it’s about the overwhelm of trying to access care when you’re already running on empty.

Most mental health resources start too late in the process, asking people to speak up, carve out time, explain what they’re feeling, and then navigate a complex system to get help. But if you’re already depleted and don’t have words for what’s wrong, that’s an impossible ask that only adds to the burden. The real opportunity isn’t creating more tools or more options, it’s meeting people where they are, which is exhausted, unclear about what they need, and just trying to hold it together.

That means helping people name what’s happening before asking them to fix it, bringing support directly to them instead of making them seek it out, and creating actual space for their wellbeing instead of adding one more task to an already overwhelming list. Because right now the gap isn’t between people and resources, it’s between people and the energy required to access those resources in the first place.

If you’re building or leading, here’s what actually matters.

If you’re building mental health solutions and products, the shift you need to make is starting with acknowledgment instead of transformation. Meet people where they actually are: tired, stuck, unsure. Help them take the smallest possible step forward rather than selling them a vision of who they could become. That means reframing your messaging from “become your best self” to “let’s help you feel okay again,” creating lower barriers to entry through free tools or sliding scale pricing that doesn’t require commitment, and helping people name what they’re experiencing (anxiety, burnout, overwhelm) without making them feel broken or deficient.

If you’re an employer or HR/people leader, the hard truth is that your people aren’t going to raise their hand and announce they’re struggling, they’re going to keep showing up, doing the work, and quietly burning out until something breaks. The mandate isn’t more wellness perks or meditation apps, it’s creating a culture where taking care of yourself isn’t treated like a luxury or framed as a personal failing. That looks like training managers to recognize the signs of someone who’s struggling (not just underperforming), building mental health days into your policy as standard rather than something people have to justify or feel guilty about, and treating therapy like the healthcare it is instead of positioning it as an optional benefit.

The insight here is simple:

People already know they’re not okay, and what they need isn’t another app or inspirational message telling them to push through... It’s permission to stop pushing, access to support that doesn’t require them to have it all figured out first, and someone willing to meet them exactly where they are.

That’s my two cents,
Steph