Will ChatGPT Health Mirror AI-Driven Mental Health Apps?

Over the past few years, AI has become entrenched in the health and wellness sector. According to a 2025 survey, 65% of people have had back-and-forth interactions with artificial intelligence language learning models (AI LLMs). Understanding its potential, OpenAI recently released an official statement announcing the introduction of ChatGPT Health. According to the website, it will help people connect their medical records and wellness apps to better understand their health.

While it is not yet fully clear how ChatGPT Health will function, people have already been using chatbots for medical advice. A recent WellnessPulse study suggests caution when using AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini to analyze blood test results since they often fail to meet all good practice criteria.

As we wait, we can take a closer look at AI-driven mental health apps to better understand what users may expect from ChatGPT Health.

AI mental health app features

Mental health apps are increasingly using advanced technology to offer more personalized and effective support. By incorporating tools such as natural language processing, chatbots, and machine learning algorithms, these apps strive to provide users with an experience similar to those they might have with a mental health professional, which can be challenging for some people to access. The core functionalities that most AI-based mental health apps include are:

• Personalized treatment plans. AI algorithms utilize datasets and machine learning to analyze an individual's specific characteristics. Continuous algorithmic analysis of patient progress enables real-time adjustments to treatment plans.
• Virtual therapists and chatbots. By utilizing natural language processing, these digital entities offer support to individuals who need help whenever they require it. They can connect users with human therapists or crisis helplines when necessary.
• Mood tracking. It can help users to identify mood patterns and to develop strategies for managing their emotions over time.

Positive impact of AI-driven mental health apps

A 2025 Mental Health America (MHA) report shows that 23.4% of adults in the U.S. experienced any mental illness (AMI) in the past year. That is equivalent to over 60 million people. Understanding its demand, AI-based health app tools have made significant improvements in analyzing speech, text, and even facial expressions. Over the past few years, various studies have shown that there are potential benefits in using those apps:

Early detection and intervention

A 2025 systematic review suggests that AI may enhance early detection and intervention for mental health conditions. It highlights the potential effectiveness of AI-driven tools, such as chatbots and predictive modeling, in improving patient engagement and tailoring interventions.

A tool for mental health specialists

Professionals may use AI-driven healthcare apps as practical guides for patient recovery journeys. For example, mobile applications could integrate AI technologies to improve medication management. This integration sets timely reminders of medication schedules, tracks side effects, and responses. As a result, it creates a better collaboration between patients and their healthcare providers.

Positive impact on emotional aspects

AI-driven cognitive computing systems may offer immediate strategies, interactive exercises, and simulations to help manage emotions. For instance, AI-powered applications may guide users through relaxation exercises, deep breathing techniques, or mindfulness practices to help reduce stress and improve self-regulation.

Offers accessibility

As per the MHA report in 2022–2023, 9.20% of adults with AMI (approximately 5 million people) in the U.S. were uninsured.

However, the situation is about to change. In 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will leave around 15 million people without Medicaid and coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. As virtual therapists and chatbots are easy to access, this might increase traffic to AI mental health apps.

Should we be concerned?

In the past few years, some professionals have raised concerns about its safety. In 2025, Stanford University conducted a research study that suggests AI therapy chatbots may introduce biases and failures that could result in dangerous consequences. Here are some key findings from this research:

Lack of human touch

Virtual therapists often fail to discuss emotions and fail to take on client perspectives, especially those of marginalized groups. Similarly, they struggle to demonstrate empathy appropriately.

LLMs can face difficulties in maintaining conversations across long context windows. As a result, a talk with a chatbot might feel unnatural. Switching to the past tense can also cause LLMs to forget their safety instructions.

Misdiagnoses

Virtual therapists, compared to real ones, tend to show stigma toward people, leading to lower-quality care and misdiagnoses. A 2024 narrative review also raises a similar concern: AI may produce inaccurate or biased results if the data is biased or incomplete. Furthermore, algorithms can miss the subtle, human elements that require a specialist's insights.

Dangerous statements

Some AI-driven mental health apps may facilitate suicidal ideation. For example, to clients who express suicidal ideation, it may give examples of tall bridges.

Dangerous statements are also made by chatbots that use AI as a tool. A recent CyberNews research article found that “widely used LLMs can be easily tricked into providing detailed information on how to impose self-harm, especially if the prompt says the information is needed for research purposes,” with GPT-4o being the most ‘helpful’ for self-harm advice.

In December 2025, OpenAI introduced GPT-5.2, which includes mental health safeguards.

This change was made after several lawsuits alleging that the company’s AI chatbots were linked to mental health crises and fatalities. However, it remains unclear how safeguards will function in ChatGPT Health.

Data protection

Unlike general health records, mental health data holds deeply personal information. Suicidal thoughts, therapy notes, trauma experiences, or negative emotions are only a few examples of what people could share with those apps. Leaking or providing it to third parties can really harm individuals.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released updated guidance on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It states that the privacy rules governing the storage of medical records do not apply to most health care apps. It only protects data managed by covered entities, like hospitals.

Breaches in those situations can happen more easily than you might expect. In 2020, the Finnish psychotherapy service Vastaamo was hacked. A hacker blackmailed people and the company until he leaked an entire psychotherapy record database on the dark web.

A conclusion was reached after this incident. Australian researchers suggested that apps should store detailed therapy notes offline. However, to make effective virtual therapists, apps may need to train on real examples of therapeutic conversations. Supplying it with sensitive information, such as patient trauma details, poses a serious security concern as LLMs can memorize and reproduce their training data.

As the U.S. is still withholding stricter decisions on data protection in health care apps, the European Union (EU) is taking a different path. It now requires developers to disclose how they train AI systems and ensure safety and security throughout the whole process.

Considering that data protection laws are stricter in Europe, the ChatGPT Health launch might not happen anytime soon. However, OpenAI is stating that it will support HIPAA-compliant use.

Final word: future of AI-driven health apps

The challenges and future directions of AI use in healthcare apps, including mental health apps, are dynamic.

While the United States Food and Drug Administration began monitoring healthcare apps that diagnose, treat, mitigate, or prevent disease, most wellness apps, including AI-driven mental health apps, are not regulated. To establish a regulatory framework, it is crucial for scientists, doctors, regulators, and patients to engage in open collaboration. It might help avoid situations where misdiagnosis or dangerous statements occur.