1 in 5 Teens Is Asking AI for Mental Health Advice. Here's What COS Parents Can Do About It.

Here's a statistic worth sitting with: according to a survey highlighted in AAP News, 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults has asked an AI chatbot for mental health advice. That means in a typical Colorado Springs high school classroom of 25 students, five of them have used a tool like ChatGPT to talk about anxiety, depression, loneliness, or stress — before talking to a parent, a counselor, or a trusted adult.

That's not necessarily a crisis. Teens seeking information and a space to process their feelings is healthy. But AI chatbots are not therapists, and they can't replace human connection, clinical judgment, or the safety net of a trusted adult who actually knows your kid.

What to Do as a COS Parent

You can't control whether your teenager talks to an AI. But you can influence whether they feel like talking to you — or at least to someone who can actually help. A few approaches that work:

Ask better questions. "How was school?" gets a one-word answer. "What was the most stressful part of today?" or "What's the thing you're most worried about this week?" opens the door. Give them space to answer or not. The point is to signal that you're interested and able to handle whatever they say.

Normalize your own stress. Teens are more likely to open up when they don't feel alone. If you share (appropriately) that you had a hard day or something worried you, it models that feelings are normal and conversations are safe.

Know who their school counselor is. D11, D20, and D49 all have school counselors — and making sure your teen knows their counselor's name and how to access them is one of the most concrete things you can do. Some counselors do drop-in hours; others work by appointment. If you're not sure how it works at your kid's school, it's worth a quick email to the front office.

Identify a backup adult. If your teen won't come to you — and some won't, and that's a normal part of adolescence — make sure there's someone else in their life they can go to. An aunt or uncle, a coach, a youth leader. A kid who has at least one trusted adult outside the home is in a meaningfully better position than one who doesn't.

Is It Ever Okay for Teens to Use AI for Support?

Yes, with limits. AI can be useful for getting information about what anxiety or depression look like, finding coping strategies, or having a low-stakes space to process thoughts before a bigger conversation. Where it falls short is in assessing severity, providing crisis support, or understanding nuance that requires knowing a person. If your teen is using AI as one tool among many, that's different from using it as a substitute for human connection.

The broader point is worth keeping in mind: AI is in your teenager's pocket, available at any hour, and eager to respond. Knowing that, the question is whether there's also a human in their life they feel equally able to reach out to.

What's Next

If you're concerned about your teenager's mental health, Colorado Springs has several resources. Children's Hospital Colorado has a COS presence; the NAMI Colorado chapter covers El Paso County; and the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) is available 24/7. D11, D20, and D49 each have student mental health resources — contact your school directly to learn what's available and how to access it.