Millions of Pakistanis are quietly opening chat apps at two in the morning — not to talk to friends, but to talk to an AI. The trend is real, it is growing fast, and the research behind it is both promising and alarming. A new body of evidence, including a landmark 2026 survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), now confirms what many already suspect: AI chatbots have entered the mental health space whether professionals are ready or not.
Pakistan has a serious shortage of licensed mental health professionals. With that shortage, AI tools such as AI-based mental health screening and emotional support chatbots are bridging the gap by providing accessible and cost-effective support.
That gap is exactly why this story matters for ordinary Pakistani families — in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and hundreds of smaller cities where therapists are either unaffordable or simply not available. For context on how economic pressure shapes health decisions, the weekly inflation hitting 13.52% while food prices rise has pushed more households toward free digital alternatives across every sector, not just mental health.
What the Research Actually Says About AI Chatbots in Psychology
The academic conversation about AI chatbots in mental health moved quickly from theory to clinical reality. A 2023 brief literature review by Dr. Kadir Uludag, a PhD researcher at the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, was among the first studies to directly ask: can AI chatbots be used in the field of psychology?
Dr. Uludag’s study, published on SSRN (abstract: 4331367), found that ChatGPT had been examined in medicine, engineering, academic writing, and programming — but almost no research existed on its use in psychology specifically.
That gap has closed fast. By 2026, the clinical picture is much clearer — and more complicated.
According to APA’s 2026 Chatbots and Mental Health Survey, psychologists are reporting that patients are starting to look beyond traditional psychotherapy to manage their mental health. Patients are turning to artificial intelligence and chatbots to supplement their relationships with licensed mental health professionals.
The scale is striking. The survey found that a vast majority of psychologists — 77% — have spoken with patients who have used AI for support, engagement, or other reasons. Not a fringe behaviour. Standard practice for a very large slice of patients. Research now shows that 48.7% of AI users who report mental health challenges have used a major LLM — ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — for therapeutic support. No waiting room. No prescription. No stigma. That combination pulls people in.
The Real Benefits — and Why They Matter for Pakistani Users
Honestly, the appeal is not hard to understand. The combination of 24/7 access, anonymity, and zero cost explains much of the surging interest in using ChatGPT for mental health support. For a university student in Multan who cannot afford Rs.3,000 per therapy session, or a working mother in Rawalpindi who simply has no time, a chatbot at midnight feels like the only realistic option.
AI chatbots like Woebot and Wysa offer interactive therapeutic support by providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques. They help users manage mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress by offering emotional support and tracking progress over time.
Early clinical results show real promise. The first randomised controlled trial of a generative AI therapy chatbot — called Therabot — produced a 51% average reduction in depression symptoms. That is not a trivial number. It is the kind of result that makes researchers pay attention.
Pakistan even has its own entry in this space. Aiza is Pakistan’s first chatbot offering CBT-based mental health support. Whether it is anxiety, stress, or OCD, Aiza is available 24/7 to guide users toward better mental health. It supports Urdu, English, Punjabi, and Sindhi — a deliberate design choice that foreign apps like Woebot simply cannot offer. That local language capability matters enormously for rural users across Punjab and Sindh.
The Serious Risks Pakistani Users Must Understand
No balance without the other side. And here, the evidence is stark.
New research from Brown University raises a serious red flag: even when instructed to act like trained therapists, AI systems routinely break core ethical standards of mental health care. In side-by-side evaluations with peer counsellors and licensed psychologists, researchers uncovered 15 distinct ethical risks — from mishandling crisis situations and reinforcing harmful beliefs to showing biased responses and offering “deceptive empathy” that mimics care without real understanding.
Dr. Uludag’s original SSRN study flagged this problem early. He noted that AI chatbots can mislead individuals needing personal psychological feedback — and pointed out a key limitation: ChatGPT has no memory between sessions and cannot store personalised information to give different answers to different people over time.
AI chatbots vary greatly in the inputs they accept. Most currently process mainly text or verbal inputs, potentially missing a critical layer of human communication. A human therapist reads body language, tone, and facial expressions. A chatbot reads only typed words.
The dependency risk is real. 36% of psychologists said their patients were developing a level of dependency on a chatbot, and 15% said their patients were developing distorted thinking or delusions. Those are not small numbers.
The APA strongly advises against using AI as a substitute for therapy and mental health support. Not as a supplement used carefully. As a substitute. That specific word is important.
What This Means for Pakistani Families
Pakistan’s mental health crisis is real. Psychiatrists number fewer than 500 for a population of over 240 million, according to the Pakistan Association of Mental Health. AI chatbots are not arriving as a luxury. They are arriving as a necessity.
As AI continues to evolve in Pakistan, it is expected to play a critical role in transforming the mental healthcare landscape, offering hope to millions of individuals seeking timely and affordable mental health support.
But the warning from global research is clear. AI chatbots are valuable tools for early-stage support and managing mild mental health issues. However, they cannot replace human therapists, especially for complex cases. AI chatbots should be a supplementary resource, while professional care is needed for more severe conditions.
Use them as a first step. Not the only step.
Users must monitor their use of these tools and watch for signs of overreliance — such as preferring the chatbot to human relationships, concealing its use, or spending excessive time with it — and assess whether their use begins to interfere with life, work, or safety.
If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, please contact Umang helpline: 0317-4288665 or the Rozan counselling helpline: 051-2890505, both based in Pakistan and staffed by qualified counsellors.
