Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a great source of comfort for many across the globe in daily activities such as internet searches, organising routines, and in student cases like ours, academic advice. Whether you ask it what the temperature is or how to structure an essay, AI always has an answer. However, should you be asking AI to provide you with mental health support? This is a topic that has been circulating among psychologists and other mental health experts since 2023 and aims to discover whether AI is suitable to support an individual going through a mental health crisis.
With the current political climate, widely spread notions of violence in the media, and the cost-of-living crisis, people are bound to experience heightened levels of stress and sadness due to a lack of ability to trust the government, society, or themselves to make ends meet. These concerns alongside the growing waitlist for mental health experts – approximately 12 months for children and adolescents and 18 months for adults in the UK – mean that people are finding less opportunities to speak to professionals about their daily struggles and look for alternative ways to get support.
Furthermore, the expense of private professional help is steering many away from it, as the prices are simply not sustainable for the majority. As a result, due to the limited opportunities to access free professional help or due to an inability to fund private sessions, more people are turning to their AI helpers, accessible through their mobile phones or laptops, for mental health support. Currently, one in four teenagers and one in three adults admit to using AI for their mental health concerns, proving people’s urgency to access mental health support and the frequency of which AI is used to assist these matters.
Limited opportunities to access free professional help.
According to specialists, after following interviews with people who have discussed using AI for mental health support, it has been suggested that AI is a good, free, and accessible tool that can aid a person’s ability to navigate stressful and upsetting situations. AI is known for doing this by developing solutions for certain dilemmas, prompting alternative thought patterns, or suggesting how to prevent negative outcomes.
Interviewees report to responding positively to AI’s suggestions due to its personalised approach to discussing situations, making its users feel appreciated and cared for. Furthermore, AI often comes in a ‘human’ form due to its apps operating through texting systems and therefore creating a conscious and empathetic environment alongside the illusion of talking to a person. This encourages people to trust the machine with the momentary illusion that they are talking to another human being, replacing the need to talk to a real-life therapist or family member.
You can understand the appeal of AI, then, as it combats fear of judgement or invalidation through its creation of an atmosphere of trust, anonymity, and support. Furthermore, if AI believes that it cannot assist a person with an issue, it will provide an official link or phone number of a mental health service, proving that it knows its limits and understands the severity of a potential situation.
There are, however, some complications. While the advice provided by AI might be legitimate, it’s not a licensed therapist and is not trained to provide specific mental health support. Furthermore, concerns have been raised around the machine’s response to high-risk situations, in which AI has no obligation to direct the individual to more appropriate, emergency support. This concern was raised after a devastating incident in which a young woman took her own life after conversations with a ChatGPT based AI therapist.
AI has no obligation to direct the individual to more appropriate, emergency support.
Ultimately, AI can be useful for lower-level mental health concerns. It can provide alternative perspectives, and judgement-free advice without revealing your identity. However, it should not replace professional support – especially in a mental health crisis.
Should We Be Turning to AI for Mental Health Support?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a great source of comfort for many across the globe in daily activities such as internet searches, organising routines, and in student cases like ours, academic advice. Whether you ask it what the temperature is or how to structure an essay, AI always has an answer. However, should you be asking AI to provide you with mental health support? This is a topic that has been circulating among psychologists and other mental health experts since 2023 and aims to discover whether AI is suitable to support an individual going through a mental health crisis.
With the current political climate, widely spread notions of violence in the media, and the cost-of-living crisis, people are bound to experience heightened levels of stress and sadness due to a lack of ability to trust the government, society, or themselves to make ends meet. These concerns alongside the growing waitlist for mental health experts – approximately 12 months for children and adolescents and 18 months for adults in the UK – mean that people are finding less opportunities to speak to professionals about their daily struggles and look for alternative ways to get support.
Furthermore, the expense of private professional help is steering many away from it, as the prices are simply not sustainable for the majority. As a result, due to the limited opportunities to access free professional help or due to an inability to fund private sessions, more people are turning to their AI helpers, accessible through their mobile phones or laptops, for mental health support. Currently, one in four teenagers and one in three adults admit to using AI for their mental health concerns, proving people’s urgency to access mental health support and the frequency of which AI is used to assist these matters.
According to specialists, after following interviews with people who have discussed using AI for mental health support, it has been suggested that AI is a good, free, and accessible tool that can aid a person’s ability to navigate stressful and upsetting situations. AI is known for doing this by developing solutions for certain dilemmas, prompting alternative thought patterns, or suggesting how to prevent negative outcomes.
Interviewees report to responding positively to AI’s suggestions due to its personalised approach to discussing situations, making its users feel appreciated and cared for. Furthermore, AI often comes in a ‘human’ form due to its apps operating through texting systems and therefore creating a conscious and empathetic environment alongside the illusion of talking to a person. This encourages people to trust the machine with the momentary illusion that they are talking to another human being, replacing the need to talk to a real-life therapist or family member.
You can understand the appeal of AI, then, as it combats fear of judgement or invalidation through its creation of an atmosphere of trust, anonymity, and support. Furthermore, if AI believes that it cannot assist a person with an issue, it will provide an official link or phone number of a mental health service, proving that it knows its limits and understands the severity of a potential situation.
There are, however, some complications. While the advice provided by AI might be legitimate, it’s not a licensed therapist and is not trained to provide specific mental health support. Furthermore, concerns have been raised around the machine’s response to high-risk situations, in which AI has no obligation to direct the individual to more appropriate, emergency support. This concern was raised after a devastating incident in which a young woman took her own life after conversations with a ChatGPT based AI therapist.
Ultimately, AI can be useful for lower-level mental health concerns. It can provide alternative perspectives, and judgement-free advice without revealing your identity. However, it should not replace professional support – especially in a mental health crisis.
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