More women are turning to ChatGPT for emotional support, using the AI chatbot as a stand-in therapist as mental health systems buckle under pressure. With long wait times and soaring costs, AI is filling a growing gap.
Mental health care is harder to access than ever. In the UK, NHS data shows patients are eight times more more likely to wait over 18 months for mental health treatment than for physical health. Private therapy isn’t at all times an option either, with sessions costing £60 or more.
In that vacuum, ChatGPT has turn out to be a surprising outlet.
Real voices, real feelings
Charly, 29, from London, turned to ChatGPT while grappling together with her grandmother’s terminal illness:
Ellie, 27, from South Wales, said it helped her feel seen when nobody else was around:
Julia, 30, in Munich, used it when her therapist was booked up. The responses felt just like a therapy app:
Photo by M. on Unsplash
What AI can and might’t do
ChatGPT offers easy, always-available support. It’s private, non-judgmental, and sometimes comforting. But it lacks emotional nuance, lived context, and the tough questioning that drives real therapeutic growth.
AI isn’t a substitute for trained professionals, but for many ladies stuck in limbo, it’s turn out to be a digital lifeline.
The greater issue? People are asking robots for empathy since the human systems keep failing them.
