The news: Nearly one in five (19%) of young people ages 12 to 21 have used AI for mental health support, up from 13% last year, according to a November RAND survey published this week.

• Among young people who use AI for mental health, 43% do so monthly, 11% weekly, and 6% daily or almost daily.
• AI use for mental health support was more common among those who had spoken with a physician about their mental health in the past six months (28%); young women (25%); and young adults ages 18-21 (24%).

Note: The survey included use of general purpose chatbots ChatGPT, Gemini, Character.AI, My AI, and Meta AI.

Why it matters: While young people turn to AI chatbots more for mental health support, the guardrails governing these interactions have not kept pace.

Tech platforms, facing a wave of lawsuits over teen self-harm and mental health negligence, retroactively rolled out guardrails, but serious risks remain. OpenAI’s own data shows millions of people are possibly expressing suicidal thinking and turning to the chatbot for guidance. General purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini can blur the line between casual guidance and professional support, even though they are not designed to provide mental healthcare. Without clinical validation, an AI chatbot cannot reliably determine when a seemingly routine conversation may signal a more serious mental health issue because it is not equipped to assess symptoms the way a healthcare provider would.

Implications for healthcare providers: Some young people may turn to AI before (or in lieu of) seeking professional help because it’s fast, private, and always on. Providers should assume that many young patients have already consulted AI and proactively ask about what they have been told or learned from it. They can validate that AI may be useful for basic conversations or as a starting point, while emphasizing the importance of trained professionals to recognize, assess, and track mental health issues over time.

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