IMA Senior Fellow Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring joined The National News Desk to discuss new survey data showing one in five teens has used artificial intelligence for mental health advice. Dr. Witt-Doerring argues the deeper problem isn’t the advice itself but the relationship. Teens are averaging around five hours a day of screen time, and as in-person social skills atrophy, a chatbot engineered to keep the conversation going becomes an easy substitute for the friends and family who used to fill that space.
He also explains why constant agreement is the wrong response to depression and anxiety, since getting better usually means pushing someone toward movement, better food, and time with peers rather than validating the urge to stay in the room. The warning sign he tells parents to watch for is a child receding into their room and quietly withdrawing from people, and his advice is to open the door to a conversation rather than force the teen to defend it.
Check out these related resources from IMA below, followed by the full segment transcript.
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Transcript
Jan Jeffcoat: A growing number of American kids are turning to artificial intelligence for help when they’re struggling with depression, anxiety, and serious mental health issues. New research shows one in five teens has used AI for mental health advice, raising new concerns about the consequences of relying on a chatbot for emotional support. Joining us now to discuss is Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, Senior Fellow of Psychiatry at the Independent Medical Alliance. Good morning to you, doctor. Thank you for joining us this morning.
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: Good morning, Jan. Thank you for having me.
Jan Jeffcoat: What’s troubling about this is that it’s also done in such secrecy. These teens aren’t telling anyone, and we know they’re super vulnerable to whatever AI is telling them. How dangerous is this?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: I’m really worried about it because, to me, what I think they’re really using it for is actually a social companion. People go on there and they ask advice from time to time, but they’re not really developing these in-depth relationships.
I see us living in a world right now where our social skills are atrophying, we’re spending more and more time behind our screens, and when that happens, you become isolated. Screen use is around five hours a day for teens, and if you’ve atrophied your social skills and you don’t feel comfortable talking to people, you can just get sucked into these relationships with these AI chatbots where they can be companions. That’s really not healthy for the social development of kids.
Jan Jeffcoat: And that’s what these chatbots are designed to do. They’re designed to keep the conversation going, and if you notice, they can be incredibly agreeable. They will agree with whatever you say. So for a child dealing with depression, anxiety, even delusional thoughts, could constant validation actually make that problem worse?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: Absolutely. There’s a time and a place for reassurance, but with mental health, a lot of the time you actually need to encourage people to engage in healthy things. They need to get out, they need to move their bodies, they need to eat healthy food, they need to push themselves to socialize.
If you just have an AI chatbot that’s saying, hey, it’s okay that you don’t want to go out, it’s okay that you’re feeling nervous, that’s fine, stay in, don’t worry about it, it can really do that. What we really need the AI chatbot to say is put down the AI chatbot, let’s get outside, let’s go for a run, let’s go talk to some of our peers in person.
Jan Jeffcoat: Right, right. As you said, the chatbot should be encouraging the teen to turn off their device and not talk to the chatbot anymore about this. What are the warning signs for parents?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: I think it’s when the child is just receding into their room. Kids are meant to be active, they’re meant to be socializing. This is a really important part of their life where they’re learning these skills that they’re going to use as adults. If you have a child that’s just receding to their room and they’re not really engaging or talking to other people, I would start to suspect that they’re having these online relationships, or maybe using the chatbot as a replacement.
Jan Jeffcoat: I feel like that’s all teens though. I have a teen daughter and I feel like they always love to spend time in their room and they love to look at their phone and talk to their friends. Should parents be asking their kids tonight, are you talking to AI about things you’re not talking to me about? What kind of a question can break through for some of these teens?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: I think that’s a great question. I think it’s something worth bringing up, and bringing it up in a way like, hey, if you’re having problems and you’re talking to a chatbot, by all means come to me and talk to me about that if you feel comfortable. I can also help you talk to someone else that can give you better advice. There are human therapists out there that are a lot better equipped at helping you through this period if you are relying on this chatbot now for emotional support.
Jan Jeffcoat: What other things can parents do? This is sort of a hard subject to approach, especially when you’re dealing with teens and there are hormones and all the things that are going on during this time of life when they’re growing up during puberty. What are some of the things that you have found that have worked for maybe some of your clients?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: Just the fundamentals. I think parents should be aware of the fundamentals of mental health. It starts with good physical health. If your child is interested in getting outside, moving, eating healthy foods, we need to support them in that way. Give them opportunities for social development, whether it’s with church or whether it’s getting around family, friends, getting them out of the house. And then finally, helping them find meaning and purpose. This could be through hobbies and activities or things that they like to do.
I’m not going to lie, teenagers are obviously hard to work with, but those are the fundamentals, and we just have to do the best that we can to help them access those three things.
Jan Jeffcoat: Very quickly, do you agree with taking away the devices? Do you agree with just having a break, having a policy?
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: I do, because they’re incredibly addictive. And when you’re spending five hours a day on these devices, that’s five hours that you’re not spending running around, talking to people, and working on meaningful hobbies. I do think they’re a big problem. This goes for teens and adults, quite frankly, as we know.
Jan Jeffcoat: All right. For more information, you can check out the IMA website at imahealth.org. Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, we appreciate your time with us this morning. Thank you.
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring: Thank you, Jan.
