More than three-quarters of U.S. psychologists report patients turning to AI chatbots for mental health support — raising questions about safety, dependency, and the limits of AI in clinical care, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2026 Chatbots and Mental Health Survey of more than 1,200 licensed psychologists.
Here are five things to know:
- More than three-quarters of psychologists (77%) report having patients who have spoken with them about using AI for support, diagnosis, or conversation. Nearly two in five (39%) have had patients who used AI to self-diagnose a mental health condition, even though commonly used chatbots are not designed to interpret psychological tests or diagnose conditions.
- More than a third of psychologists (35%) said patients are using AI as an additional mental health professional. Among psychologists whose patients developed a relationship with a chatbot, 71% said their patients talked about their mental health with it and 68% noticed their patients felt validated or supported — though 25% said the communication was unhealthy.
- Dependency and distorted thinking are emerging concerns: 36% of psychologists have noticed patients developing dependency on a chatbot, and 15% reported patients developing distorted thinking or delusions related to one.
- Psychologists raised broad safety alarms: 97% said chatbots may inadvertently reinforce negative behaviors or delusional beliefs, 94% said current chatbots cannot treat conditions with appropriate nuance, and 89% worried chatbots may inadvertently encourage self-harm. More than nine in 10 (94%) do not trust tech companies to protect patients’ private mental health data.
- Despite those concerns, 54% of psychologists said they felt comfortable with some patients engaging with chatbots — particularly products grounded in psychological research and used alongside licensed care. Psychologists who use AI frequently in their own work were more likely to see chatbots as a potential tool to help patients when a professional is unavailable.
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