Mental illness is on the rise in the United States, yet finding help has never been harder. Over 50 million Americans experienced a mental illness, according to Mental Health America (MHA). In 2024, one in four adults with frequent mental distress couldn’t see a doctor due to cost, and about 8–10% of people don’t have insurance to cover mental health services. Of the 20% of youth (ages 12-17) who had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, less than half received treatment, and more than one-third found it unhelpful.
Even if treatments were more accessible, there wouldn’t be enough mental health providers to help. There is only one provider for every 340 people in the United States, and not every provider is active or accepting new patients. We see this in schools, too. According to the Department of Education, about 17% of public high schools (serving over 600,000 students) did not have a school counselor between 2020 and 2021.
So, how are people seeking support instead?
This article explores where people, especially younger generations, find help beyond traditional care. We’ll learn how innovative platforms are using human-centered designs that parallel how people prefer to seek support today. We’ll also explore opportunities for healthcare systems to use human-centered design to fill the widening gap in mental health care.
Each generation seeks mental health support differently. Older adults tend to avoid medical treatment due to stigma, skepticism, and cost. Instead, they will likely seek help from friends, family, and religion. Younger generations, especially Generation Z (Gen Z) are more likely to access mental health support if it’s available, but they still run into similar barriers and turn to friends for support.
Gen Z is interesting because it’s the first generation to have never known life without high-speed internet and cell phones, and new technologies offer convenient ways to connect with others or collect health information. This generation is also more open to discussing their challenges, with over 53% having sought mental health services and 87% reporting they’d feel comfortable discussing their mental health. However, with the widening gap in care, Gen Z is looking elsewhere for help
Our team launched a pilot survey for young adults (older Gen-Zers, ages 20–29) who have participated in mental and behavioral health services to learn where people seek alternative support and why. Here are some key takeaways.
The sections below will explore Gen Z's three most common digital avenues for seeking mental health support. For each avenue, we’ll also showcase a human-centered product thoughtfully designed to provide accessible, affordable, and approachable mental health resources.
About 68% of Americans across all generations use social media, including YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram. Young adults use multiple social media apps, with Instagram and TikTok among the most popular. People use social media to socialize with family, friends, or new communities. For many, it’s a place to find peers who share a common struggle.
Research shows that many young adults use social media to share their own experiences, connect with others who have similar experiences, and learn coping strategies from one another. This is much like traditional support groups (digital and in-person), where people can share experiences with less fear of stigma and judgment. People also have an opportunity to act as mentors, which boosts their confidence and sense of purpose.
Togetherall is a digital mental health care platform that hosts anonymous clinically-moderated support groups for people who need a space to talk to others with a shared challenge. This platform has been suggested to reduce symptoms in people experiencing high levels of anxiety.
Here’s how Togetherall addresses patient barriers to mental health care:
Many people use apps to practice self-care and maintain (or improve) mental health. Each app serves a different purpose, like guiding you through meditation sessions or creating daily self-care checklists.
Research shows that mental health apps can be a timely and budget-friendly alternative to traditional therapy (which can be up to $200 per session in the United States). Evidence also shows it can lower the stigma around seeking help and improve therapeutic outcomes for mental and behavioral challenges like stress, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
Bearable is a mobile app that tracks your mood, symptoms, habits, and medications. It’s designed to help people discover patterns in their health markers, including what makes them better or worse.
This app is especially useful for more involved situations, like managing a chronic illness. One study exploring health-tracking apps for people with cancer named Bearable one of the highest-scoring apps because it’s easy to navigate and offers exportable graphs for providers.
Here’s how Bearable addresses patient barriers to mental health care:
The internet is a vast resource with easily accessible information. You’ve likely tried Googling symptoms at one point in your life, but that’s becoming a thing of the past. More people are using AI to get health information, including mental health support.
AI-based conversational agents, like ChatGPT, are becoming more popular as people seek alternative mental health resources. There are risks to using AI for support because we can’t always control its advice, similar to consumer-led digital mental health services like TalkLife or 7 Cups. However, a 2023 study suggests that AI-based conversational agents can effectively alleviate psychological distress. This is especially true when the conversation feels more human-like, like hearing advice from a friendly AI-generated voice. Chatting with AI is like hearing advice from a peer, but with less social risk—AI is less likely to judge.
Some school districts have subscribed to Sonar, a free text-based platform for students and their families. This platform serves as a support system, allowing students to discuss their mental health challenges while screening for patterns that may signal the need for human intervention.
With permission, Sonar also integrates with other mobile apps like TikTok to passively monitor phone usage and detect behavior changes (like voice analysis during calls or sleep patterns) that may indicate the need for mental health support. Users can use their phones normally while the app works in the background, comparing behavior changes to the user's baseline. If a crisis is detected, it’s escalated to emergency contacts (like parents or guardians) as needed. But this platform's ethics are controversial, raising questions about appropriate boundaries in AI surveillance.
Here’s how Sonar addresses patient barriers to mental health care:
Seeing a professional, whether in person or online, is the safest way to receive mental health support. Social media, apps, and AI chatbots carry more risks and unknowns.
When people use social media platforms for support, they may be exposed to the following:
Mental health apps have more structured support, but they can still pose the following risks:
And while AI is a new and exciting technology, more regulations are needed in mental health care to prevent:
Mental health platforms aren’t perfect and shouldn’t replace professional services, but they may be a good alternative to supplement support until a professional is available. Healthcare systems can use digital platforms to their advantage, teaching patients how to use digital support groups and AI platforms safely between sessions or to maintain progress after therapy.
Gen Z teaches us that, despite their imperfections, digital platforms can supplement traditional mental and behavioral care. Healthcare systems should create proprietary, patient-centered solutions to reach more people seeking support, help them overcome challenges, and provide touchpoints after discharge.
Human-centered platforms, like Togetherall, Bearable, and Sonar, have found ways to provide accessible, affordable, and approachable mental health resources—everything Gen Z claims traditional therapy lacks. And they’re widely accepted. Togetherall and Sonar partner with school systems nationwide, and Bearable has thousands of five-star ratings on the App Store.
Healthcare systems can adopt the same strategy and release products to help their patient network thrive. Here are a few ways you can create digital mental health care platforms that meet patients where they are and keep them engaged within your healthcare community.
AI is the fastest-growing and most advanced technology healthcare systems can adopt to stay ahead. It’s relatively new, especially in mental and behavioral health, but it’s revolutionizing how providers work by providing thorough diagnostic screens and more efficient documentation systems.
As the American Psychological Association (APA) calls for providers to integrate AI tools into their practice, now is the time to innovate.
Integrating AI into a healthcare platform is simply adding another layer of design. Upgrading technology doesn’t necessarily add complexity. Nicole Huppert, UX designer at Oliven Labs, describes AI as just another piece of the puzzle. “There's more research that goes into it. Understanding behaviors and testing usability for the best user-friendly experience may take more time,” she says. “There’s also more collaboration with engineers to get major concerns, like data privacy, addressed. But when you’re working with a great team, adding AI to a design is simple.”
The next article in our series, AI & Mental Health: The Ethics & Risks of Patient-Led Digital Therapy, explores AI’s growing role in mental health care, associated ethics and risks, and how we can marry new tech and patient-centered design to address the growing need for digital therapeutics.
Reach out to Oliven Labs if you’re ready to develop a product designed to meet your patients where they are. Together, we’ll grow your patient network by improving adherence, health outcomes, and patient relationships.
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