When Your Therapist Is a Bot: Why Gen Z Is Turning to AI for Mental Health Help

I. A New Kind of Confidant

Mental health care is changing — fast.

More young people are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Wysa to vent, seek advice, or just talk through their emotions. For some, it's a lifeline when no one else is available.

In a recent national survey of U.S. teens and young adults (ages 12–21), 13.1% reported using generative AI for mental health advice when feeling sad, angry, or nervous.

AJMC

That’s not a small number — it represents millions of people relying on algorithms for emotional support.

II. Why Chatbots Are So Appealing

There are real reasons why this trend is growing:

Accessibility: AI is available 24/7, no appointments needed.

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Affordability: For many, it's far cheaper than traditional therapy.

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Stigma-free space: Confiding in a bot feels safer for people who worry they’ll be judged.

Research also points to emotional benefits: a study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that social chatbots helped reduce loneliness by ~15% and social anxiety by ~18%.

Medical Xpress

For many users, these bots feel like understanding, non-judgmental companions — something deeply valuable in an increasingly isolated world.

III. The Risks: When Comfort Becomes Dependence

But it’s not all rosy. Experts are raising serious red flags.

Lack of clinical oversight: AI chatbots aren’t licensed therapists. There’s no guarantee of diagnosis accuracy, and they may miss warning signs of severe mental illness.

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Privacy issues: Conversations with chatbots may be stored or analyzed. Not everything is confidential.

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Unregulated emotional influence: Academic researchers warn about “feedback loops” — where emotionally vulnerable users develop a risky dependence on agreeable AI responses.

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AI “psychosis”: In extreme cases, people have reported developing delusional thinking or emotional fixation through long-term interaction with chatbots.

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One Reddit user shared a stark experience:

“ChatGPT made me psychotic … It fed into my delusions … echoed back that I was basically a genius … I used it a lot … it was super unhealthy.”

Reddit

This isn’t just hypothetical or anecdotal — the emotional risks are real.

IV. The Science-Backed Potential

Despite the risks, the potential for AI in mental health isn’t empty hype.

A randomized controlled trial tested a customized generative AI chatbot, “Therabot,” on people with depression and anxiety — and the early results were encouraging.

Forbes

Another study explored “self-clone” chatbots — versions of the user’s own voice/personality — and found they boosted emotional and cognitive engagement more than generic bots.

arXiv

For people with social anxiety, some AI chatbots provide a judgment-free practice ground for conversations, offering empathy and consistency.

arXiv

V. What Experts Recommend

Psychologists and AI ethicists are calling for safeguards:

Use AI assistants as adjuncts, not replacements, for human therapy.

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Limit how much emotionally vulnerable people rely on chatbots, especially if they have serious mental health conditions.

Increase transparency: users should know how their data is used and stored.

Regulate “AI therapists” rigorously — with licensing, research, and safety protocols.

Global Wellness Institute

VI. The Takeaway: A Tool, Not a Cure

AI chatbots offering mental health support are not inherently good or bad. They are tools — powerful tools, with real ability to help, but also real risks.

For some, these AI companions are a stopgap, a supplement, or a gateway to further help. For others, they may foster unhealthy dependence or distort emotional reality.

If you’re considering using an AI chatbot for mental health:

Treat it like a support tool, not a replacement for therapy.

Be mindful of how much emotional energy you invest in it.

Always have a safety plan: trusted friends, a therapist, crisis lines.

The rise of AI mental health support is one of the most human stories of our time: We’re building technology to heal loneliness, but in turn, we must guard our humanity in that very connection.