Behavioral health utilization surged by 62.6% since 2018, according to a new report from Trilliant Health. To address this issue, the industry needs to expand the workforce and integrate behavioral and physical health, researchers said.
The 2026 Behavioral Health Report was published on Tuesday. It analyzed a national dataset of claims, provider data and public health sources. Its key findings include:
1. Behavioral health utilization increased to 1,346 visits per 1,000 people between 2018 and 2024. Anxiety disorders had the fastest growth, increasing by 89.3% over this period. The highest utilization was among women between the ages of 18 and 44.
2. Drug and alcohol-related deaths have risen 176.1% since 1999, with mortality more than doubling across all adult male age groups and the sharpest increase (118.7%) among men ages 65-84. Intentional self-harm ranks as the tenth leading cause of death, with rates among adolescent males up 45.2% since 2004.
3. There’s been a growth in behavioral health prescribing, largely led by stimulants and antipsychotics. The increase in stimulants was mainly driven by women. Anxiolytics remained the most commonly prescribed class overall and saw the fastest growth among men ages 18-44.
4. About two-thirds of behavioral health visits are via telehealth. However, there are still major workforce challenges, with the U.S. only meeting about 27.3% of its mental health workforce needs. It’s projected to face significant shortages by 2038, including roughly 36,780 fewer adult psychiatrists and 99,780 fewer mental health counselors than required.
5. Untreated mental illness is estimated to have cost $477.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to surpass $1.3 trillion per year by 2040. At the same time, access to care remains uneven, with negotiated prices for individual and group psychotherapy varying by as much as sevenfold.
“We find that demand for behavioral health has surged in the years following the pandemic, but unfortunately, the number of providers, the availability of services and access to affordable care just have not kept pace with that growing need,” said Allison Oakes, chief research officer of Trilliant Health, in an interview. “So as a result, we find ourselves in a situation where there are a lot of folks who are struggling with these different mental and behavioral health needs but aren’t able to access affordable care or access care in a way that’s convenient and easy for them.”
Oakes noted that to address this behavioral health crisis, there needs to be more efforts to increase the workforce and address burnout. She highlighted the increasingly central role of nurse practitioners, physician assistants and primary care physicians in this space, stating that together they now prescribe about two-thirds of all behavioral health‑related medications.
“I think we need to figure out how to get more providers into the workforce. We need to figure out how to keep them in the workforce. 83% of mental health providers report burnout. So we need to figure out how to increase supply, how to maintain that supply, and then following that, increase access for patients,” Oakes said.
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