62% of Americans cut other spending to keep paying for stress relief

New research from Drug Rehab USA finds financial stress is still weighing on most U.S. adults, with 83% saying it has not improved in the past year and 1 in 5 delaying or skipping therapy because of cost. The survey points to a widening gap between rising money pressure, coping habits and access to professional help.

Why it matters: - Financial stress is pushing many Americans to protect coping habits even as household budgets tighten. - The survey suggests that stress relief is becoming a recurring expense for many people, crowding out groceries, health care and savings. - Only 7% sought professional help for stress or emotional strain, while 53% turned to a coping behavior instead. - The pattern appears strongest among Gen Z, millennials and lower-income Americans.

What happened: - Drug Rehab USA surveyed 1,200 U.S. adults about financial stress, coping habits, debt and whether people substituted those habits for professional support. - More than three in five respondents, 62%, said they sacrificed something else to keep spending on stress relief or leisure. - Eighty-three percent said their financial stress has not improved in the past year. - Thirty-nine percent said they are more stressed about money now than a year ago. - Forty-two percent said rising living costs pushed them to lean more heavily on coping habits. - Only 14% described themselves as financially comfortable. - Forty-eight percent said they are stable but could be derailed by a layoff or medical emergency. - Thirty-five percent said their finances are strained, and 2% said they are in survival mode. - Eighteen percent said they feel better about their finances than a year ago.

The details: - Forty-five percent said financial stress has made a coping habit harder to reduce, stop or control. - Two in five respondents, 43%, spend at least $50 a month on stress relief. - Thirty-one percent spend $100 or more, and 11% spend more than $200. - The most common coping habits that increased over the past year were lying awake in bed (35%), buying fast food and sweet treats (33%), doomscrolling (29%), gaming (27%), small impulse purchases (24%) and food delivery (20%). - Among cannabis users, 19% of Gen Z said they were using more, compared with 3% of baby boomers. - Among gamblers, 20% of Gen Z and 20% of millennials said they were betting more, compared with 6% of Gen X and 3% of boomers. - Streaming, at 29%, was the hardest comfort to cut when money got tight. - Coffee or specialty drinks followed at 27%, then food delivery at 24%, alcohol at 21%, cigarettes at 17%, cannabis at 13% and gambling at 9%. - One in five respondents, 20%, said none of those comforts were hard to cut. - One in five drinkers, 20%, said they had hidden or downplayed their drinking from someone close. - Twenty-two percent said they had hidden or downplayed an online or impulse purchase. - More than half of respondents, 53%, saw at least one form of debt increase over the past year. - Credit card debt rose for 34%, medical debt for 13% and buy now, pay later balances for 9%. - Debt increases hit younger adults harder, with 65% of Gen Z and 65% of millennials reporting at least one debt increase, versus 44% of Gen X and baby boomers. - Among Gen Z, 18% said student loan balances grew, compared with 9% of millennials and 2% each of Gen X and boomers. - Thirty-seven percent of respondents with incomes under $50,000 said their finances are strained or in survival mode, compared with 33% of those earning $50,000 to $100,000 and 16% of those earning more than $100,000. - Fifty-eight percent of low-income respondents saw debt rise, compared with 47% of high earners. - Twenty-nine percent of low-income respondents were unemployed, compared with 15% of high earners. - Only 7% sought professional support for stress. - Fifty-three percent turned to a coping behavior instead. - The most common substitutes for professional help were social media (27%), alcohol (22%), food delivery (19%), gaming (19%), cannabis (15%) and nicotine (12%). - Seventy-five percent of Gen Z and 74% of millennials chose coping behavior over professional support, compared with 50% of Gen X and 34% of boomers. - Gen Z was more likely to use social media as a substitute, at 43%, compared with 16% of Gen X and 11% of boomers. - Sixty-seven percent of low-income respondents substituted coping behavior for professional support, compared with 47% of high earners. - Men were more likely than women to substitute gaming, 22% versus 13%, and gambling, 11% versus 5%, for professional support. - Men were also more likely to have delayed addiction treatment because of cost, 12% versus 7%. - Cost kept many respondents from care altogether. - Thirty-one percent delayed dental care, 29% delayed medical visits, 26% delayed vision care, 20% delayed therapy and 20% delayed prescriptions. - Twenty percent delayed or skipped therapy because of cost. - Nine percent delayed addiction treatment or support services. - Among Gen Z, 37% delayed therapy because of cost and 18% delayed addiction treatment. - Among baby boomers, 7% delayed therapy and 1% delayed addiction treatment. - To keep stress-relief spending going, 20% cut back on groceries, 22% delayed a planned purchase, 15% reduced or paused savings, 15% put discretionary spending on a credit card and 15% carried a credit card balance longer than planned. - Eleven percent put off health care, 11% used money intended for necessities and 10% borrowed from family or friends. - Some respondents said they kept this spending out of view, which can signal a habit has moved beyond budgeting.

Between the lines: - The survey points to a feedback loop: money pressure drives coping habits, and those habits can add more financial strain. - The cost of care appears to be steering people toward easier, cheaper forms of relief. - Younger and lower-income Americans seem most exposed because they have the least room to absorb added spending or debt. - Gambling stands out because it can feel like a way to solve the same money problem it is worsening.

What's next: - Drug Rehab USA says narrowing the gap between stress and affordable help could change these patterns more than telling people to simply cut back. - The company points to lower barriers of cost, access and stigma as key to getting people into care sooner. - The study suggests therapy, addiction treatment and other support services may remain underused if out-of-pocket costs stay high.

The bottom line: - For many Americans, stress relief is now competing with essentials, and professional help is often still the first thing they skip.