I’ve recently started looking into chatbots for mental health support for a friend and I would love to find out more about the experience of using the chatbot, especially amongst the young people under 18 so that I can better advise my friend.
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Hi, it’s so nice that you’re helping to advise your friend!
When it comes to comforting someone, you can also help them out in your own ways by lending them a listening ear, and being there to encourage them if they’re struggling.
However, if you’re looking for chatbots to help you search for mental health sources or ideas, I think perplexity AI could help because they give relevant articles that support their points. It helps for me because it means it’s less likely the AI made up the source on their own.
Wishing you all the best!
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That’s a really important area to explore! I actually tried using a mental health chatbot myself when I was under 18—haha, for confidentiality reasons. While it’s definitely not as good as professional help, it was still really helpful for me. Chatbots provide a non-judgmental space and immediate responses, which many young people appreciate. It’s also worth exploring mental health apps alongside chatbots!
For example, there’s the Wysa app with its cute penguin companion—it instantly makes me feel a little better, like having a friendly guide through meditation and other exercises: Wysa on Google Play. Oh, and it’s on Mindline too! :>
Another one is Remente, which helps track mood and offers articles—free access is limited but still useful: Remente on Google Play.
Headspace is great too for mindfulness, though some features require payment; you can also find many of their guided meditations on YouTube: Headspace on Google Play.
And even ChatGPT can be a helpful tool for talking things through.
I think they’re definitely worth exploring :> but just a heads up, chatbots and apps aren’t the same as professional counselling or therapy—they’re more like helpful self-care tools. Like any kind of support, it takes time. So if you find one that fits you, you can stick with it and use it over time. It’s totally okay if you don’t use it consistently—what’s important is knowing it’s there when you need it.
Hope you’ll find it helpful!
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hi there! this is actually a really interesting area to explore, and it’s something that i have been thinking about too~ i’ve actually had friends who used chatgpt to consolidate their thoughts and help them verbalise what they are thinking - which can be helpful when you’re feeling overwhelmed and not sure how to put those thoughts into words / defining the problem. however, ai tools can’t really replace professional counselling/therapy - it should be used with caution and to point you to the right resources :-))
in fact, mindline actually has a lot of free mental health resources - in the form of a chatbot and more!! i think it’s worth checking out ~~ hope this helps and have a good weekend 
Hello @threesixfive! That’s so nice of you! I would recommend mindline.sg ! They operate 24/7 and they are able to provide you pretty good resources 
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Hey @threesixfive
Thats so cool and admirable that you’re looking into something novel to help your friend!
I personally think that AI might be helpful in the short term but not in the long term for mental health support. I think it is because it gives superficial but beautifully written output, hence it might ease our feelings from first sight of reading it, but if we delve deeper the meanings behind the words might not hold much value. It can also never compare to professional psychological services for diagnosing mental health issues and evidence based therapy methods. Those require a deeper level of analysis and consciousness that AI cannot replicate (at least for now).
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Hello @threesixfive
It’s interesting to hear that you are looking at chatbots as a form of resource. I think a lot have shared about their experiences/ thoughts however I am curious to know what you’ve explored and how do you find it personally for yourself.
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Hello, it is really nice to hear that you are exploring ways to help your friend 
like what others have said, perhaps you can also consider the resources available on the mindline website!
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mmm some resources came to mind when reading your question:
- mindline 24/7 text chat with a counsellor - https://mindline.sg/home?kr-tool-id=default
- Pi chat - https://pi.ai/onboarding
- Wysa AI chatbot to recommend self-care resources on mindline - https://mindline.sg/home?wysa-tool-id=default
- chagpt haha i have friends who use chatgpt as their therapists, works pretty well when given good prompts~
hopefully these would be helpful
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hi @threesixfive ,
I think chatbots have their place, since users may feel more at ease chatting about sensitive/personal/embarrassing stuff with bots, and good chatbots can adapt to user inputs and provide personalized responses. That being said, I think human touch is important too in the context of mental health
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https://pi.ai/ is my favourite. I think it’s important to find chatbots that are built for health and wellbeing rather than the general type like ChatGPT cause it may not be as safe
I think the world is rapidly advancing and we’re developing new resources all the time! For me, I’m of the perspective that there are no bad resources, and if it isn’t harmful and it helps you, by all means!
However, it is of course important to ensure it is a resource, and not a source of harm. And that might be a tougher question to answer now that there’s so much accessible technology out there.
I do hear of friends asking AI models like ChatGPT for support. Overall, it sounds helpful for learning more about mental health and gaining a little awareness about how it might apply to you. But it is tricky for intervention (which means using it as a tool for recovery)
In this case, it sounds like a chatbot might be helpful though! They have a wealth of knowledge, and it may be helpful if you have questions about how to help a friend and understand mental health better.
Ultimately how ever you help a friend, you showing up and supporting that friend is more than enough and admirable as it is