As the number of people seeking help from chat bots for mental health issues increases, we look at the dangers – and advantages – of using a virtual therapist.
What do you do in the middle of the night in a moment of emotional distress if you have no one to talk to? What if you’re on a long waitlist to see a mental health professional or simply can’t afford an appointment? Or perhaps you’re too embarrassed to speak to someone about your mental health, or just not ready? Increasingly, Australians are turning to AI chatbots for mental health support.
According to a recent report by Australians for Mental Health, 37 per cent of participants said they often felt lonely and isolated, with 27 per cent feeling that they don’t have anyone they trust and talk to regularly about personal matters. Additionally, two in three Australians reported that feelings of stress, anxiety or depression impact their daily life at least some of the time. With these statistics, it’s not surprising one in 10 Australians are using chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, as a virtual shoulder to cry on.
Elisabeth Shaw, CEO of Relationships Australia NSW, sees AI therapy as a supportive adjunct to conventional, face-to-face therapy. The accessibility, convenience, availability, anonymity and affordability of chatbots can help in providing a ‘soft entry’ to getting help. “There are lots of reasons why AI therapy can be useful,” she says. “(It is often used by) single parents, people with a disability, people in rural and remote areas and people with less command of English. Even people who are having conventional therapy often use this as a top up between sessions.”
Ms Shaw believes AI to be very good at the basics of counselling: providing validation, support and empathy, albeit in a generic way. “The challenge is where you’re wanting to move beyond basic support and problem solving, or the issues are more complex and nuanced,” she says. “In those more advanced ways, AI can’t keep up with a good human therapist.”
In the same way that journaling might have been suggested many years ago as a way to engage with your own thoughts while gaining perspective, Ms Shaw sees AI therapy as a ‘modern day version of that with the added benefit that you get some feedback you feel is from an outside source.’
While AI therapy can also be very useful for people who struggle with relationships, it can unfortunately replicate the difficulty someone might have in connecting with a person. “Sometimes seeing a therapist, you are, just by the process of going through it, building a relationship that may be the first good relationship you’ve had for a while from which you can build other relationships,” she says.
Another important aspect of therapy are the non-verbal clues and nuances gleaned only through physically assessing an individual. “When you don’t have eyes on people, you lose critical pieces of data,” says Ms Shaw. “AI can’t possibly assess all the different levels of vulnerability that people can present with.”
Some of the most vulnerable individuals in Australia are children and adolescents. New research from National Youth Mental Health Foundation headspace has found that 49 per cent of young Australians experience high or very high levels of psychological distress.
“While support through AI and social media has been enormously beneficial for a lot of vulnerable teens, we also know the risks.” The best approach parents can take, according to Ms Shaw, is to have a very open mind into your young person’s world. Keep communication open by being curious about what they are doing and ask questions rather than ‘swooping in with judgement,’ she adds.
While young Australians benefit from being tech-savvy and quick to adopt new technology, they are also more vulnerable to ‘technology-related harms,’ according to mental health research institute, Black Dog Institute. Subsequently, they have developed a set of recommendations to promote informed use of these technologies for mental health.
Black Dog recommends to Choose wisely: chatbots cannot diagnose, treat or cure mental health conditions and they are not regulated.
Understand the limitations of chatbots: they tell users what they want to hear and make errors.
Chatbots are not a replacement for a trained mental health professional.
Seek human connections, social support and professional therapy.
Ms Shaw ultimately sees AI therapy as ‘as part of the mix in the journey of seeking help.’ She explains that while with a medical concern, the physical symptoms or pain you might experience will eventually prompt you to see a doctor, we might not recognise that threshold when it comes to our emotional well-being.
“With a mental health concern, we’re not always the best judge of whether our mental health is slipping,” she says.
Of paramount importance is to recognise that AI therapy is a supplement. “It can be a place to start, but to make sure that you also attend to the particularities and complexities of your own circumstances, you’re probably going to need something more.”
SUPPORT
If you need mental health support, contact your GP.
For urgent support call:
Lifeline 13 11 14
Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
Headspace (teens only) 1800 650 890
