Welcome to Ask the Market, where we put market research into practice. Each month, we take a real business question, ask the right people, and show how their answers can lead to smarter decisions.
The mental health tech market is crowded and heavily funded, but are businesses building what people actually want? Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, we asked adults about their mental health, the tools they use, and where they'd trust AI to help.
HOW WE DID IT
Using SurveyMonkey for market research, we surveyed adults across three countries to understand their mental health, the resources they use today, their experience with AI, and where they would (or wouldn't) trust AI for support.
- Audience: US, UK, and AU
- Fielded: September 9, 2026
- Sample size: 1,509 adults (506 US / 503 UK / 500 AU)
WHAT WE LEARNED
- The biggest competitor isn't another app. It's the feed. If you're building in this space and benchmarking against Calm or Headspace, you may be solving for the wrong competitor. When we asked people what tools they use to manage their mental health, social media came out on top ahead of meditation apps, wearables, and purpose-built therapy platforms.
- Access is the real barrier to care. Only about a quarter of adults saw a licensed mental health provider in the last year. The reasons why others didn't are telling: 29% cite cost, while 25% prefer to handle things themselves. And in the UK, 19% point to long wait times, which is nearly triple the US rate (7%).
- When people do seek help, stress and depression drive it. Among those who did seek professional help, stress and anxiety (~48-49%) and depression (~37-50%) were the top reasons.e.
- AI adoption is already happening, but trust has a ceiling. Nearly 1 in 5 adults currently use an AI companion or chatbot for mental health support, and the majority across all three countries have either tried it or are open to it. But openness drops sharply for high-stakes scenarios: most people still strongly prefer a licensed professional for diagnosis, treatment, or prescribing.
- The US leads on both professional care and AI openness. Americans are most likely to have seen a provider in the last year (34% vs. 25% in Australia and 23% in the UK). The UK reports the worst outcomes: 31% rate their mental health as fair or poor, but also faces the steepest access barriers.
THE TAKEAWAY: FROM INSIGHTS TO ACTION
These findings raise some interesting questions for any business operating in or entering the mental health space whether you're building a product, planning a campaign, or sizing a market.
- Who should you target? Cost and access are barriers for roughly 3 in 10 adults. Are you reaching the people who already want support but can't easily get it?
- How should you position it? Only a quarter of adults prefer AI over a professional for general advice. Is "AI-powered" really the message that drives action?
- What should you build? Most people still prefer a licensed professional for diagnosis or treatment. Where does your product fit relative to that boundary?
🧠 The questions this research raises are ones your own audience can answer. SurveyMonkey LaunchPad makes it easy to run studies like this one: pick a solution, reach your audience, and get decision-ready results in hours.
