{"id":640168,"date":"2026-05-01T05:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/640168\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T05:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:59:09","slug":"young-aussies-turn-to-ai-for-mental-health-shock-survey-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/640168\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Aussies turn to AI for mental health: shock survey reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

One in four young Aussies are now using artificial intelligence (AI) models to self diagnose mental health problems as new data reveals a shifting trend from human professionals to chatbots. <\/p>\n

Young people aged 10 to 24 are turning to platforms such as ChatGPT as a substitute to traditional cognitive behaviour therapy, new findings released by the NSW Office for Youth show. <\/p>\n

The 2026 Youth Week Poll, surveyed 2308 young people across NSW to better their views on issues such as social media, gambling and AI use. <\/p>\n

The report found usage was highest among 18-24 year olds with 83 per cent having used AI in the past 12 months. Alarming, 47 per cent of 10-12-year-olds reported using the online tools.<\/p>\n

\"Concerns<\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018Don\u2019t get left behind\u2019: 5 AI skills to learn right now<\/a><\/p>\n

One in four (24 per cent) of those surveyed admitted to using generative AI (GenAI) to ask questions about and understand their mental health. <\/p>\n

NSW Youth and Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said the report highlights \u201csome pretty stark realities about the challenges (young people) are facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese insights give our office a clearer picture of what young people need and help guide the work we deliver across government,\u201d Ms Jackson said.<\/p>\n

While the data may support an increase in young people using AI therapy, many young people across Australia believe it\u2019s unwise for their generation to develop an dependence on GenAI models<\/p>\n

Ray Hodges, a 22-year-old TAFE student from The Oaks in Sydney\u2019s south west, believes AI therapy is dangerous as it does not consider the user\u2019s mental health history. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith ChatGPT, I\u2019ve noticed it always agrees with you,\u201d Mr Hodges told news.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is going to be thinking for themselves anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:\u2018Human skills\u2019: How to keep your job safe from AI<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr Hodges, who studies Artificial Intelligence at TAFE NSW, said while he uses systems such as Copilot and Claude to help with his studies, he would also conduct his own research before taking the advice of a GenAI tool. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Young people) will lose critical thinking skills, especially in a dangerous situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t use (GenAI) to diagnose yourself, you could use it as a research tool to narrow down and understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Fagan, a 20-year-old digital marketing executive and student from Melbourne, said AI is \u201cruining creativity\u201d and that GenAI tools are giving young people results they want to hear to keep them on the platform longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are using AI as their god \u2026 they can\u2019t think without it,\u201d Ms Fagan said. <\/p>\n

Ms Fagan, who also uses AI multiple times a week, said people having conversations with AI models feels \u201cdystopian\u201d but understands why young people would choose it over alternatives such as helplines. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell it anything and it\u2019s not going to judge you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s already an increase in bad mental health. I feel that (GenAI) is just going to increase it more to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

A report from The Harvard Business Review found therapy and companionship was the number one reason people were using AI in 2025, with low cost and the 24\/7 access being key motivators why people turn to AI for companionship. <\/p>\n

\u201cAI-delivered therapeutic interventions have reached a level of sophistication such that they\u2019re indistinguishable from human-written therapeutic responses,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in four young Aussies are now using artificial intelligence (AI) models to self diagnose mental health problems…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":["post-640168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}