“Some argue AI Therapy can break down mental health stigma – others warn it could make it worse,” Salon, by Elizabeth Hlavinka, March 30, 2025:
“In some cases, talking with AI chatbots for mental health care instead of seeing a human could also increase isolation and loneliness, worsening the mental health symptoms patients are experiencing in the first place, said Şerife Tekin, a mental health ethics researcher at SUNY Upstate Medical University and author of “Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry.” This isolation could also worsen stigmas associated with mental health care if people are talking about their emotions with these programs instead of with other humans, she added.
“One of the therapeutic processes in the clinical context is to help patients see they don’t need to be perfect, that anyone can experience things, and it’s okay to ask for help,” Tekin told Salon in a phone interview. “I think [AI therapy] might actually increase the stigma.”