By Karen McVeigh
Publication Date: 2025-12-10 06:53:00
Good morning Today’s teenagers seeking mental health support are more likely to turn to a chatbot than a professional mental health website or app, according to a study published Tuesday.
According to the study, one in four people aged 13 to 17 have contacted an AI chatbot about mental health issues. What is worrying is that this figure rises to 40% for young people affected by serious violence, whether as victims or perpetrators.
These are teenagers in really difficult situations, but the Youth Endowment Fund’s findings are consistent with evidence that the average wait time for a young person to be referred to a mental health service is 392 days – meaning warnings from youth leaders that at-risk children need “a human, not a bot” may ring hollow.
I spoke to for today’s newsletter Rob Booththe Guardian’s UK technology editor, on what’s behind the growing reliance on chatbots to support mental health, whether they actually help young people and the growing concern about the dangers…
