Whether it’s breakups or breakdowns, many Indians are turning to generative AI to discuss their mental health challenges.
“With people, you feel judged. It takes time and money to ‘click’ with a human therapist. Chat GPT, by contrast, offers sympathy, if not solutions, minus the judgment. It’s become a habit now. Like writing a diary or journal everyday.”
More people are turning to chatbots for mental health support. Some are standalone and some embedded within mental health apps, making access to counseling seem deceptively simple. But does it help?
The bot they developed, named Therabot, had positive mental health outcomes. People with depression experienced a 51% decrease in symptoms, while those with anxiety reported a 31% reduction in symptoms. It can be helpful to those who can’t access traditional therapy, especially since India faces a critical shortage of mental health professionals. There are only about 0.75 psychiatrists per 1,00,000 people, far below the WHO-recommended 3 per 1,00,000.
It’s a completely emotionless, faceless chat that you would be having with the app or with the AI provider. When a client is sitting with me, she wants to see me feeling concerned, she wants my reassurance, she wants to sense that I can understand what she’s going through — which a chatbot is never, ever going to do.”
The response from Grok is warmer, while Gemini and Chat GPT take a more direct tone. All three offer fairly appropriate suggestions, but they could benefit from refinement — some tips come across as over simplified or slightly patronizing. Grok stands out by recommending therapy when things feel overwhelming, which helps define a clear threshold for seeking professional help, rather than framing therapy as just another lifestyle alternative like going for a walk.
