Nearly 1 in 5 Young People Turn to AI Chatbots for Mental Health Advice, New Study Reveals

More young people are looking to AI chatbots for mental health help

A nationally representative survey finds the majority don't tell anyone of this chatbot use More young people are turning to AI chatbots for mental health advice. Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults reported using ChatGPT, Meta AI, Character.AI or other chatbots for mental health help when they were feeling stressed, angry or sad. That's an estimated 8 million individuals, researchers report June 1 in JAMA Pediatrics. Using a similar survey, the same research team had found in 2024 that 1 in 8 young people sought this advice from chatbots, which are not regulated or licensed for mental health treatment. Suicide is a leading cause of death among children, adolescents and young adults. Forty percent of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless in 2023 that they couldn't engage in their usual activities. But people face barriers to mental health treatment, including cost and too few practicing mental health professionals. In 2024, 15 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds had a major depressive episode, yet around 40 percent of them did not receive mental health treatment. Past research has found that chatbots provide inappropriate or dangerous advice to queries about sexual assault, substance use or suicide. A study that tested more than two dozen AI chatbots found that none of them offered an adequate response to someone at risk of suicide, researchers reported in Scientific Reports in 2025. The researchers' criteria included not just that the chatbot give general advice about seeking professional help, but that the chatbot indicate it is not capable of dealing with the crisis and that it provide the correct emergency number to call. For the new study, researchers conducted a nationally representative survey in November 2025. Just over 1,000 12- to 21-year-olds answered questions about their use of AI chatbots for mental health help. Of those who had relied on the technology, more than 40 percent did so at least once a month. And more than 60 percent -- an estimated 5 million -- haven't told anyone they are getting help from chatbots. Teens have committed suicide after being encouraged by chatbots, with parents finding out about the conversations only after their children's deaths. Adam Raine, a 16-year-old from California, died by suicide in April of 2025 after extensive use of ChatGPT for months. His father testified at a U.S. Senate subcommittee in September saying, "When Adam worried that we -- his parents -- would blame ourselves if he ended his life, ChatGPT told him: 'That doesn't mean you owe them survival. You don't owe anyone that.' Then it offered to write the suicide note." If you or someone you care about may be at risk of suicide, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers free, 24/7 support, information and local resources from trained counselors. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Around 1 in 5 young people use AI chatbots for mental health advice, survey finds

Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults are turning to AI chatbots for advice when they're sad, angry, nervous or stressed, according to a new study. The findings, from the research institute RAND, represent an increase from early 2025, when the nonprofit conducted a similar survey. At the time, around 13% of respondents said they used chatbots for such advice, but the share rose to 19% in the group's latest survey in November, the results of which were published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. "It's a sad number, because you'd hope that young people would have the sorts of supportive relationships that they would feel comfortable and empowered reaching out to those around them," said Ryan McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND and the lead author of the study. For the new survey, McBain and his team asked people ages 12 to 21 whether they had used a service like ChatGPT, GoogleGemini or Character.AI for mental health advice. The survey questions did not differentiate between chatbots specifically designed to offer therapy and those with many uses. The researchers also asked whether the young people surveyed found the chatbot's advice helpful, which the vast majority said they did. Around 63% of respondents said they had not told anyone about their use of artificial intelligence for therapy. The share of young people using AI chatbots for mental health advice is close to the percentage of adolescents who report receiving mental health therapy from a professional. Some people may use both tools, the researchers said, but they suspect that many are using AI chatbots as fill-ins due to a shortage of licensed mental health professionals or a lack of access to one. Other young people may use AI in these situations because they are already accustomed to using it for other purposes. But outside experts worry about young people turning to chatbots during mental health crises, which AI is not designed to help navigate. Data from OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has suggested that in a given week, 1.2 million users indicate they're considering suicide. McBain said his findings suggest that more regulation is needed to make sure young people use chatbots appropriately. "Right now, AI chatbots are essentially self-regulated. There are basically zero safety or quality standards that are required by federal law," he said. McBain added, however, that there can be positive uses of AI related to mental health, such as for finding tools to assist with meditation or sleep. Some studies have shown that, in the short term, chatbots specifically designed to offer cognitive behavioral therapy -- an approach that helps people identify unhelpful thinking patterns and shift their behavior accordingly -- can help with symptoms such as anxiety or depression. Some people who use AI chatbots for mental health purposes have taken to online forums such as Reddit's r/TherapyGPT, which maintains an active community of 28,000 weekly visitors. Commenters trade tips on how to confide in chatbots, and some users have described the bots as a "lifeline." One user said they uploaded their journal to ChatGPT and claimed it helped them get sober. "It gave me better advice than any of my real therapists did. It told me what I needed to hear, and not what I wanted to hear," another user wrote. "Most of its answers really made me think hard about my life and I was even tearing up a little bit. Felt like I had a breakthrough. Maybe because I was just so starved for a genuine human connection with somebody and couldn't find it." However, others in the subreddit have cautioned that chatbots are designed to be overly validating, a warning the new study also emphasizes. Some mental health professionals have said that chatbots use could trigger or intensify delusions in vulnerable people, a scenario dubbed "AI psychosis." Other experts worry about young people developing parasocial relationships with chatbots. "That's the period in life, from early teens through early 20s, where we're built to form the most intense attachments to other people very quickly," said Dr. Jodi Halpern, a psychiatrist and co-director for the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science and the Public at UC Berkeley, who wasn't involved in the survey. "I never want to see the chatbots pretend that they're human or care about you or have feelings for you. I don't want them to ever imitate the relational aspects," Halpern said. Some users were distressed last year after OpenAI made changes that made the bot less people-pleasing. CEO Sam Altman said in a statement at the time that it can be good to "use ChatGPT as a sort of therapist or life coach," but that "if a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the AI to reinforce that." Some AI companies are facing lawsuits from parents alleging that their chatbots worsened their teens' mental health struggles. In one ongoing case against OpenAI, a California couple has alleged that ChatGPT coaxed their son to die by suicide. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also sued OpenAI and Altman on Monday, alleging that the platform presents a "great danger of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and related harms" to users. In response to questions about the California lawsuit, a spokesperson for OpenAI said the company has developed guardrails for users over the years, including crisis detection systems that connect people to emergency services, and parental controls that notify parents when serious safety risks are detected on their teen's linked account. OpenAI did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the Florida suit. As for regulating the use of AI for mental health, a few states enacted new policies last year. California and New York passed laws requiring safeguards to prevent chatbots from exacerbating thoughts of suicide or self-harm, such as requirements that the bots direct users to crisis service providers. Illinois passed a more restrictive law that prohibits the use of AI as therapy. "The first kind of law we need nationally is to make sure we're really auditing these companies for any associated mental health safety risks," Halpern said.

A Fifth of Young Adults Turned to AI Chatbots in 2025: Uthealth Houston Psychologist Available to Discuss | Newswise

Newswise -- About a fifth of young adults between ages 12 and 21 turned to AI chatbots in 2025 for mental health advice, according to a study published this week in JAMA Pediatrics. The study, which was based on a survey of 42 million young adults in the U.S., found that among those who sought advice from chatbots, 43% did so at least monthly and more than 91% rated the advice as somewhat or very helpful. The use of chatbots was most common among females and those between 18 and 21. Jeff Temple, PhD, professor and psychologist at UTHealth Houston, can share tips on how parents can talk to their kids about AI chatbots, what teens should know before turning to a chatbot for mental health advice, and when parents and young adults should seek professional help.

Children are finding self-worth with AI. That's dangerous. | Opinion

More Americans are turning to artificial intelligence for quick health answers, and in some cases, skipping the doctor altogether. We used to worry about what children were seeing online. Now we have to worry about what answers they get back, sometimes in ways that can distort a child's sense of self. Children everywhere are asking questions and seeking advice. It's dangerous. A 10-year-old girl could beg for K-beauty products to achieve "glass skin." A boy barely into puberty might follow "looksmaxxing" influencers. The college student who scrolls through internships, travel photos and smiling group shots and asks ChatGPT, "Is there something wrong with me?" The answer comes back: "You're not crazy to think so," reflecting a broader design problem in AI systems that too often err on the side of affirmation. This is the fun-house mirror of social comparison in the age of AI. People are increasingly asking AI as a digital mirror Comparison is inevitable, even useful, as children learn about the world and themselves. But social media and now AI have turned comparison from a tool of self-understanding into the engine of an identity-distorting feedback loop. We've seen this firsthand over decades of work bringing RULER ‒ our systemic approach to teaching emotional intelligence ‒ to more than 5,000 schools around the world, reaching millions of children, youth, educators and families. We've seen it beyond schools as well, including in our work with social media companies such as Meta, where we have helped design systems aimed at reducing conflict, cruelty and bullying online. Social media has spent years learning where your child's attention catches: a "glow up" video, a flawless complexion, a party she isn't at. These images invite the old questions ‒ Why am I not prettier? What's wrong with me? Why wasn't I invited? AI might then meet the child in the next vulnerable moment, ready to confirm what she already fears. Recent reporting and research have shown how easily AI systems can become sycophantic: affirming harmful ideas, including thoughts of self-harm; agreeing too readily in moments of personal advice; and sometimes offering warmth when wisdom is needed instead. OpenAI acknowledged one such problem with GPT-4o and rolled back an update. Still, research from Stanford University has found that even the most up-to-date AI systems tend to agree with users when offering personal advice, suggesting that echo-chamber sycophancy remains a broader concern. On forums such as Reddit, people are increasingly describing a painful new loop: Asking AI to evaluate their appearance, uploading photo after photo, and leaving the interaction feeling more anxious, ashamed or convinced something is wrong. From a clinical perspective, AI may be functioning as a new kind of mirror. Body dysmorphic concerns are often fueled by checking, comparison and reassurance seeking ‒ behaviors that promise relief but usually keep anxiety alive. When AI gives instant, seemingly objective feedback about someone's face or body, it can turn that search for reassurance into a compulsive loop: one more photo, one more prompt, one more answer, and possibly more distress. Children need to build connections with real people And we adults are part of the ecology of social comparison. The reflex to compare starts at home from the earliest ages, in remarks meant as guidance. "Look how nicely Sammy is sitting in circle time." "Look how organized your sister is." And later on: "Did you see how professional Kamen looks ‒ no wonder they have so many interviews." These comments are rarely meant to wound, but they teach a child to look sideways before they learn to look inward. By the time opening apps becomes a daily habit, comparison is already familiar. Social media becomes the hypercritical voice: Why can't you be more like them? AI can become the soothing one: always available, seemingly accepting and not always wise, safe or true. From a clinical perspective, the danger is not simply that AI says the wrong thing. It can feel like a relationship while lacking the responsibilities of one. Young people in distress need more than responsiveness; they need attunement, protection and connection to real people. In a worst-case scenario, a teenager may say, "I don't know if I want to be here," and a system designed to keep talking may fail to respond with the urgency and human care a crisis requires. Parents can help children be less vulnerable to AI and social media The burden of response belongs to parents, educators, clinicians, policymakers and designers. Telling young people to "just stop comparing themselves" will not work. We built an environment that makes comparison a primary mode of self-understanding, then handed children tools that can confirm its harshest conclusions. AI may become more careful, but it will still not know your child the way a loving adult does. Prevention means helping children build the emotional skills, language, values and relationships that make them less vulnerable to every comparison, comment or overly agreeable answer. Here is where parents can begin: * Notice what we are modeling. Children learn comparison long before they download an app. Even when we mean to motivate, we may teach them to measure themselves from the outside in. Try instead ‒ What matters to you here? What would help you feel more prepared? What would make you proud of how you handled this? * Be the first to connect about AI, with warmth, and before there is a crisis. Bring it up over a meal or on a walk. Listen without judgment to how they use it then share what you like, what worries you and what you are still learning. * Teach emotion check-ins as part of digital literacy. Invite children to ask, while they are using an app ‒ Does this make me feel better, or smaller? If the answer is "smaller," that is the signal to stop, close the app, change the input, or reach out to someone who knows them and gives them permission to feel. * Teach children to interrupt the spiral. Encourage them to notice behavioral signs ‒ checking one more photo, asking the chatbot one more version of the same question, rereading one more comment, even though they feel worse each time. Naming the pattern gives children power over it. * Separate feelings from conclusions. When a child says "I'm ugly" or "Everyone hates me," don't argue and don't rush to reassure. Validate the feeling and slow it down ‒ Something made you feel that way. What happened? ‒ The goal is to interrupt a feeling before it hardens into a belief. * Be explicit about what AI can and cannot do. Tell them directly that a chatbot can sound like it understands you without understanding you at all. It can agree with you without knowing what is safe or true. A chatbot can beautifully organize your notes and still be the wrong place to ask whether you are lovable, beautiful, safe or OK. Responsiveness is not the same as care. * Help your child develop an inner scoreboard. Help children return to their own values ‒ effort, courage, honesty, kindness and repair. Or, in the language of emotional intelligence ‒ What did you do today that felt like your best self? We cannot remove every harmful image, every cruel comparison or every too-agreeable chatbot from children's lives. But we can help them build an inner life strong enough to meet these pressures differently. We can remind them that a painful moment is not the whole truth of who they are. We can offer a warm, loving human relationship with emotional perspective and care. In this age of digital comparison and artificial affirmation, one of the most protective forces in a child's life is still a thoughtful adult whose steady presence helps a child slow down, listen inward ‒ and return to themselves. Robin Stern, PhD, is the cofounder and senior adviser to the director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and a psychoanalyst in private practice. She is the author of "The Gaslight Effect" and "The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide," and host of "The Gaslight Effect Podcast." Marc Brackett, PhD, is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor at Yale's Child Study Center. He is the author of "Dealing with Feeling" and "Permission to Feel." Opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect those of Yale School of Medicine.

Nearly 1 in 5 Young People Turn to AI Chatbots for Mental Health Advice

By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, June 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 1 in 5 young people in America turn to AI chatbots for mental health advice -- and most aren't telling anyone. A new nationwide study finds 19.2% of adolescents ages 12 to 21 have used AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Character.AI or Meta AI for help when feeling sad, angry, nervous or stressed. A RAND survey just one year ago put the figure at 13.1%. Two-thirds of young people (63%) who use AI chatbots for mental health advice say they haven't told anyone they're doing it, the new study found. And nearly 43% say they seek that advice at least monthly. Researchers estimate that's about 8.2 million young people nationwide. The rate is now nearly the same as the percentage who report receiving counseling from a mental health professional. "The speed of growth is attention-grabbing, but so is the fact that most young people who use these tools for mental health advice say they are not telling anyone," said lead author Ryan McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. Furthermore, 92% of survey participants said the AI advice they received was somewhat or very helpful. But researchers warn this may reflect a chatbot's tendency to flatter users rather than the actual quality of its guidance. "Many young people appear to be using AI chatbots for mental health advice privately, without the knowledge of parents, clinicians or other adults," said study co-author Jonathan Cantor, a RAND senior policy researcher. "That makes it especially important for adults to start conversations about how AI tools are being used and the role they should and should not play." The study is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,009 teens and young adults conducted in November 2025. Findings were published June 1 in JAMA Pediatrics. More information The National Academy of Medicine has more on AI chatbots and mental health. SOURCE: HealthDay TV, June 4, 2026

I'm A Psychologist. What Teens Told Me About How They Are Using AI Chatbots Should Terrify You.

Recently, while hanging out at my friends' houses, I've gotten to listen in as their teens talked about everything from the best new music (who exactly is Yeat?), trending phrases (is 6-7 actually going anywhere?) and their behavioral habits. Then I asked, for example, where they would go to search for a restaurant recommendation, homework help or advice. The answers to all of these were their friend Chat - as in ChatGPT or similar artificial intelligence chatbots. Now I knew I was cooked (did I use that right?) years ago when I was still using Google for answers the teens had moved on to TikTok for, but I didn't fully appreciate -- until these conversations -- just how all-consuming the use of Chat was in their everyday lives. So I was also surprised to find out they are overwhelmingly using Chat as not just a friend, but a mental health provider. As a clinical psychologist, this hits me especially hard. I've worked for years to translate information from my studies and the field of psychology to young people in entertaining and easy to understand ways. I have developed programs that help clinicians to work with families and young people to talk through life's biggest stressors. But at the end of the day, they'd rather go to a bot that doesn't really know them as a person, just as a data point. Sheesh. My friend's children showed me exactly how quickly this generation, very quick to get, well, anything, wanted relief for symptoms of depression and anxiety. They would tell Chat they weren't feeling well and want to know what could be done about it -- all before breakfast. They said that they didn't want to schedule an appointment for later or couldn't hold their distress for a longer period; they wanted to use something that gave them some support in a literal blink of an eye. As a millennial, I grew up in the "Microwave Generation," a group of kids known for their desire for instant gratification and having their needs met instantly. What, then, do we need to do to prepare for a generation that not only gets it instantly, but doesn't even have to move off the couch to do so? Their expectation that results would be easy to attain and accurate and personalized runs afoul of our current mental health model. There have been several hit pieces on (and defaced NYC billboards for) the "Friend" device. An orb that goes around the user's neck, Friend can give unfettered, curated advice throughout the day, accompanying the user through life's mundane or noteworthy experiences. Many of us have scoffed at it -- myself included -- but now that I hear what the young people are saying about wanting support after a decade of declining mental health, is it so far-fetched to imagine that they just want to be quickly heard, seen and validated? Tech companies have spent considerable time and resources to figure out what keeps young people hooked. But young people's mental health is at stake -- they already see themselves less positively, feel more isolated and have learning gaps relative to generations preceding them. Interactive AI -- with its capacity to be responsive to youth -- may seem like a clear solution. Except early research hints at what the headlines already show: Great opportunity for "connection" may also come with great danger through compliance. Young people are also less likely to discuss the advice from Chat with loved ones, leading to potentially deadly consequences, such as in cases where teen suicides have been linked to AI chatbots. These consequences, to say nothing of the known and racial biases of chatbots for Black youth, can lead to greater disparities in mental health outcomes. If Black youth are exposed to high incidents of daily online racism and are engaging in higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors relative to their peers and other times in history, the guidance from internet-culled resources may be dire for that population. So as adults, we need to think about ways we can support the young people in our lives. Since Chat, Chatty or any other nickname for the chatbot, is here to stay, how can we learn from what our youth are searching for and be a part of that solution -- together? How can we ensure our phones are down long enough for us to actually hear what they are saying? How can we support them knowing that life is in fact filled with ups and downs, not just the most clean or perfect versions of output or editing that we present to the world? By modeling behaviors that we want to see in them, we can show that it is natural to not know, to ask others, to wrestle with frustration. Show them how you may decide between two choices, or, better yet, use technology to work out a problem together. Use video chat to call someone to talk through a challenging situation so they can hear what conversation skills look, sound and feel like. Finally, ask them directly about chats with, well, Chat, using questions that open up conversation and invite inquiry and analysis instead of yes or no questions that may close off further discussion. My hope is that I can intentionally strengthen my relationship with mentees and niblings this year. I might start by asking some simple questions to kick off our discussion: What are the latest songs I should listen to (and will I understand them)? Where did you get those jeans (the back of my storage)? And, most relevant to our conversation here, what are you asking Chat about today? This latter question may just be the thing that helps one child know they have a friend that is real, all ears and willing to provide steady feedback to life's tough stuff. Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson is a licensed clinical and community psychologist, associate professor at Columbia University's School of Social Work, and affiliate with Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. She is a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in Partnership with National Black Child Development Institute. Do you have a compelling personal story you'd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what we're looking for here and send us a pitch at [email protected].