65% of Employers Report Rising Mental Health Leaves — and Complex Conditions Are Up 88%: Lyra Forecast
Lyra Health's sixth annual workforce survey of 500+ HR leaders finds severe anxiety, depression, and trauma cases surging, substance use up 26%, and 98% of employers calling mental health benefits essential for talent.
Mental-health-related leaves of absence are rising sharply across US employers, according to Lyra Health's sixth annual Workforce Mental Health Forecast, based on a survey of more than 500 HR and benefits leaders.
The headline numbers: 65% of employers report rising mental health leaves; substance use cases are up 26% annually; roughly seven in ten leaders say mental health issues significantly hurt job performance; and concern about family-caregiver stress jumped tenfold year over year. Meanwhile 98% say comprehensive mental health benefits are essential for attracting and retaining talent, and 94% are exploring neurodiversity support.
The argument under the data
The forecast frames 2026 employer priorities around prevention and resilience, caregiver stress, and neurodiversity — and argues that rising leaves show EAP-style approaches are falling short. That is, of course, the core sales thesis for platforms like Lyra and Spring Health; readers should weigh the source accordingly.
Self-interested or not, the demand signal matches everything else in the 2026 data: mental health topping digital health funding for a seventh year, behavioral conditions driving 52% of telehealth claim lines, and Talkiatry's $210 million raise. Employer behavioral health spend is heading into the 2026-27 benefits cycles as a growth line item, not a discretionary one.
Reporting: Lyra Health 2026 Workforce Mental Health Forecast, via Business Wire.
Source
Original reporting: Lyra Health / Business Wire ↗