ChatGPT for mental health? AI chatbots are fast becoming midnight therapists for the anxious and overwhelmed. But how much can they really help?
Can you get access to therapy wherever and whenever you want it – even if it’s in your bedroom in the middle of the night?
Yes, if ChatGPT has anything to say about it.
But it’s not just about the convenience; ChatGPT has been lauded as a judgement-free entity to open up to about any worries, especially when you feel like you have no one else to confide in.
Best of all, due to the vast amounts of data it has churned through, ChatGPT is informed enough to offer personalised diagnosis and guidance, and can share links and resources so that you can expand your knowledge on the topic of concern.
As it is, with stigma and expenditure being the greatest barriers against people seeking out mental health support, more and more people have been turning to AI chatbots to talk about their psychological issues, to the point that there are entire Reddit threads dedicated to describing exactly what inputs you should be using to make the most of your digital therapist.
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While generative AI isn’t quite the best substitute for a living, breathing healthcare professional—or even your own friends—there is definitely some value in following its advice should you wish to consult it.
However, whether it truly benefits you depends on how much you’re asking from it.
How ChatGPT Supports Mental Health
The mental health capabilities of this chatbot seems to range from helping assemble your to-do list to offering consequential advice for dealing with anxiety.
Does this mean we can forget about ever having to book and pay for an appointment at a mental health clinic?
Provides Psychoeducation
As a psychoeducational tool, ChatGPT is capable of delivering a large amount of content that is both comprehensive and easily digestible. This means that you can immediately learn about symptoms of disorders and explore treatment options through a quick search.
Some therapists even use AI as a complement to their services, recommending them to their patients for information-gathering purposes in between sessions.
After all, knowledge is power. The greater your awareness regarding your mental state, the smoother the road towards recovery.
Comes Up With Coping Strategies
It’s one thing to know you have a mental health condition.
It’s another to actually live with it.
ChatGPT can assist in this regard by helping you brainstorm appropriate coping strategies that can be tailored to your needs. So if you’re struggling to deal with your circumstances, or a previous recommendation isn’t working, ChatGPT can offer new solutions, be it journal prompts or mindfulness apps.
Even if you don’t suffer from a mental health disorder, but are experiencing the stresses of everyday living like anxiety over an upcoming exam or burnout from work, the meditations techniques offered by ChatGPT can prove more useful than you’d think.
Clears Mental Clutter
Many adults would know that ChatGPT is a great organisational tool too – but how does that support our mental health?
Considering we tend to be easily overwhelmed by the copious amounts of work we’re constantly battling through every day, this chatbot can really assist in this area by helping us structure our tasks, and make them feel more manageable.
This means conducting a brain dump through ChatGPT can go a long way in freeing up our mental space, and reducing stress.
So…Can ChatGPT Replace Your Therapist?
AI Offers Information, Not Therapy
First of all, the wealth of information available at its non-corporeal fingertips doesn’t mean ChatGPT can always use it appropriately.
Unlike full-blooded mental health professionals, typical chatbots like ChatGPT aren’t trained to help patients meaningfully deal with their condition; it can only offer well-informed opinions.
As for bots that are designed for mental health needs, such as Pi and Wysa, there are still going to be kinks.
Furthermore, something we tend to overlook about ChatGPT? It sometimes lies.
When AI Gets It Wrong
Not that it means to. It’s just that AI has yet to get the better of its occasional tendency towards hallucinations, which are generated responses that seem legitimate, but are actually false.
Its potential in giving you incorrect solutions, and even possibly triggering advice, means that completely depending on it to resolve your mental health conditions, especially if they are severe, can actually be detrimental to your wellbeing.
Moreover, despite its enormous memory when it comes to general information, chatbots can’t actually retain specific details about you over a period of time.
So even when you’ve maintained a month-long relationship with it, it’s still quite forgetful about what you’ve gone through, which definitely doesn’t lend well to the idea of it as a long-term confidant.
ChatGPT lacks the flexibility and empathy that human therapists offer, largely due to its impersonal nature.
“Chatbots’ algorithms may not fully grasp the nuances of an individual’s personal history, culture or specific circumstances,” explained Dr Karen Pooh, a Clinical Psychologist at Alliance Counselling and Yale-NUS College, in CNA.
There is only so much it can do to support our health before we have to reach out to our social circles or a professional.
“Humans are complex and mental health is on a spectrum. There is no one-size-fits-all approach,” she added.
In the end, ChatGPT can’t replace traditional therapy. For deeper healing, long-term growth, and true emotional safety, human connection remains irreplaceable.
Butw hen therapy is out of reach – due to stigma, financial barriers, or simply being 3am – AI can offer immediate emotional triage.
Read More
- ChatGPT and the Future of Healthcare Industry
- Depression Detection in 30-Seconds: Chinese Startup’s Breakthrough
- How AI Is Being Used to Combat Mental Health Issues in Malaysia
External References
- Agarwal, S. (2024, July 15). More people are turning to mental health AI chatbots. What could go wrong? National Geographic. Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/ai-chatbots-treatment-mental-health
- Bhat, R., Kowshik, S., Suresh, S., Alamelu, G., Gite, S., & Albattat, A. (2025). Digital companionship or psychological risk? The role of AI characters in shaping youth mental health. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 104, 104356. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876201824004490
- Kalam, K. T., Rahman, J. M., Islam, M. R., & Dewan, S. M. R. (2024). ChatGPT and mental health: Friends or foes?. Health Science Reports, 7(2), e1912. Retrieved from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10867692/
- Maurya, R. K., Montesinos, S., Bogomaz, M., DeDiego, A. C. (2024). Assessing the use of ChatGPT as a psychoeducational tool for mental health practice. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 25(1), e12759. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/capr.12759
- Murray, C. (2025, May 6). Why AI ‘Hallucinations’ Are Worse Than Ever. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/05/06/why-ai-hallucinations-are-worse-than-ever/
- The Straits Times. (2024, November 22). People are using AI for therapy, even though ChatGPT wasn’t built for it. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/people-are-using-ai-for-therapy-even-though-chatgpt-wasn-t-built-for-it
- Wisner, W. (2023, July 17). How a Brain Dump Can Help You Relieve Stress. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-brain-dump-7111793
- Wisner, W. (2025, March 14). 7 Ways You Can Use ChatGPT for Your Mental Health and Wellness. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from: https://www.verywellmind.com/using-chatgpt-for-mental-health-and-wellness-11695183
- Yeo, N. (2023, December 4). Gen Zen: Can AI chatbots replace friends and therapists in providing mental health support? CNA. Retrieved from: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/mental-health-matters/gen-zen-ai-chatbot-mental-health-support-4633461
