The nation’s mental health epidemic is another unwelcome legacy of the pandemic. However, growing awareness of the scope and cost of behavioral health has prompted a wave of action and adoption of new technology to help employees get the help they need.
Pre-pandemic, employers and their advisers were increasingly aware of the importance of behavioral health services and the relationship between mental health, physical health and productivity. The outbreak of depression, anxiety and substance abuse during the pandemic heightened the need for new approaches. Rates of depression and anxiety among U.S. adults were about four times higher during the pandemic compared to the year before COVID-19, and death by overdoses increased by nearly 30% during the same period.
