Many young adults are using chatbots for mental health support

In short: More people, especially those aged 25 to 34, are turning to AI chatbots for wellbeing support, and opinions are split on whether that is helpful or risky.

What's going on

A growing number of people are using AI chatbots for stress, anxiety, loneliness, and self-reflection. AI chatbots are tools that can talk with you in plain language, a bit like messaging a very fast customer support agent.

A report by Mental Health UK and Censuswide found that 37% of UK adults have used chatbots for mental health or wellbeing conversations. Among people aged 25 to 34, that number rises to 64%.

The Financial Times described one example of a 30-year-old who uploaded years of journal entries into Claude, a chatbot made by Anthropic. He asked it to spot repeating patterns in his life. He said it helped him notice themes, but he still relied on a human therapist to work out what to do next.

Companies are also expanding products that mix AI support with human care. Wysa says it has supported more than 6 million people in 105 countries, and recently expanded into more languages. Some services position AI as a first step, not a replacement for clinical care.

What to watch

Experts warn that chatbots can give harmful or biased replies and may validate a user too much (like a friend who always agrees). Researchers at Stanford have flagged failures and unsafe responses in some cases. There are also privacy concerns, since chat messages may not be as confidential as people assume. The key question now is where these tools can help, and where a trained professional is still needed.

Source: Financial Times