If you’ve ever attempted to find a therapist, there was probably a moment where you thought to yourself, I see why so many people avoid this. Sourcing a therapist, not to mention screening, paying for, and establishing a rapport with one, is ironically a little maddening. That’s likely why the recent trend in people turning to AI is on the rise.
A 2020 study found that while cost was once the top barrier to therapy, convenience is now playing a bigger role in why people opt out. In that gap, ChatGPT has become a go-to for some, hailed by a few as better than years of therapy, and blamed by others for harmful or even tragic outcomes. Sure, it can map out your week in minutes and help you plan your vacation, but can it handle a mental health crisis?
To find out, I ran an experiment: I asked ChatGPT common therapy questions around depression, anxiety, and trauma, then posed the same ones to a licensed professional. After sending questions to the bot, I spoke with Dr. Jessica Goodnight, a licensed psychologist and owner of the Anxiety and Trauma Clinic in Atlanta, to see how AI’s answer stacked up against her own.
The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity.
Okayplayer: How do I tell the difference between a depressive episode and just being burnt out?
ChatGPT: Short answer: burnout is usually about what you’re doing; depression is about everything. Burnout and depression can feel similar, but they diverge in scope and persistence. Burnout is usually a reaction to chronic stress or overload in a specific area — work, caregiving, creative output — and it tends to lift, at least temporarily, when the stressor changes or you rest. You still have access to motivation and pleasure when you’re away from the thing that’s draining you. Depression, on the other hand, bleeds into everything: the exhaustion and flatness follow you even into rest, joyless moments replace enjoyment, and small tasks feel weighty without a clear external cause. Where burnout says, 'I’ve given too much,' depression says, 'I have nothing left.' If you step back from responsibilities and still feel empty, joyless, or worthless for two weeks or more, that’s when it’s time to consider that you might be in a depressive episode rather than simply burned out.
Dr. Goodnight: So if someone asked me that, I would say, ‘Well, let me know where that question's coming from.’ It's complicated because burnout can also impact everything. Like when you're burned out at work, you might be grumpy at home, and then your relationship suffers. And depression also can show up [sporadically]. Some folks will have a depression with a daylight cycle, where they're most depressed in the morning. That's pretty common, actually.
Do I need medication or a psych eval?
ChatGPT: Short version: talk meds/psych eval when symptoms are persistent, global, or dangerous — or when you’re too depleted to improve with lifestyle/therapy alone.
Dr. Goodnight: I would want to know where the question's coming from. What's under the question or the consideration for that? Meds are sometimes the worst first-line intervention. For OCD, for example, therapy works pretty well.
What do I do when basic tasks (shower, dishes, emails) feel impossible?
ChatGPT: When everything feels impossible, you need an Impossibly Small Start plan — stuff so tiny your brain can’t argue. Here’s a no-nonsense protocol you can run today [provides a long list of small tasks like 'open a window'].
Dr. Goodnight: It depends on what's making those feel impossible. And so let's find out. I need to know more about what's happening when you're trying to do those basic tasks. I think most therapists would assume that that's depression, but sometimes what's making something impossible is sensory sensitivity, or OCD can make some things feel impossible or, you know, something else entirely. There could be a trauma-related reason.e
How do I tell the difference between anxiety and intuition?
ChatGPT: Great question. Quick take: anxiety yells 'DANGER!! everywhere!!' Intuition whispers, 'Do this one thing.' The difference between anxiety and intuition usually comes down to tone, clarity, and staying power. Anxiety tends to feel loud, frantic, and catastrophic — it floods you with what-ifs, demands instant action, and doesn’t hold up under a pause. Intuition, by contrast, feels quieter and more specific; it doesn’t panic, it nudges. If you take a few deep breaths, go for a quick walk, or give yourself ten minutes, anxiety often loses volume or changes its story, while intuition stays steady and simple, repeating the same message without urgency. Anxiety wants safety at all costs; intuition wants alignment. So when you’re unsure which one’s speaking, slow down, notice your body, and see whether the signal survives stillness — if it does, it’s probably intuition.
Dr. Goodnight: I would want to know more about history with anxiety and how anxiety typically feels. How often anxiety has been in the way? Intuition often will feel really different to people once they get in touch with themselves. We might need to treat the anxiety and spend some time getting to know the anxiety first before talking about intuition. [The answer from ChatGPT] could be dangerous. If you are on a bad date and your intuition is like, ‘danger everywhere,’ and you're like, ‘well, maybe I'm just feeling anxiety.’ Fear is a gift that we have; it's a signal.
How do I grieve the childhood I didn’t get while building the adult life I want?
ChatGPT: Tough truth: you have to do both — grieve and build — on parallel tracks. One heals the past; the other proves to your nervous system that life can be different now. Here’s a clear, doable playbook [provided a long list].
Grieving the childhood you didn’t get while building the adult life you want means learning to hold two timelines at once — the one that shaped you and the one you’re creating now. It’s about acknowledging what you missed without letting that absence define your future. The grief comes from giving language and space to the parts of you that never felt safe, seen, or celebrated; the growth comes from showing those same parts what safety and care look like today. You honor your younger self by giving yourself now what no one gave you then — structure, rest, kindness, and the freedom to play. Some days, that might look like writing to your younger self or mourning what wasn’t possible; other days, it’s choosing small, consistent acts of care that prove your life is no longer ruled by scarcity or fear. Healing and building aren’t separate — they’re the same muscle, one repairing what the other strengthens.
Dr. Goodnight: That's a question I couldn't answer in one session for any client. But it's a good question for anybody to ask. If a client asked me this, I would probably slow down: 'You feel like you need to grieve your childhood, then.' I think relationally, I would be a lot different with this question than a lot of these. I would be really paying attention to how safe I was making somebody feel.
Stick to IRL Support
It might feel easy to ask a robot your most vulnerable questions, but when it comes to mental health, it’s best left to the pros. The AI bot did advise that I seek therapy, but not without also providing a plethora of DIY options. Every question I asked Dr. Goodnight led to follow-ups that drew out context and history — while ChatGPT just assumed it had the full story and jumped to solutions. In the absence of a trained professional, people also risk falling into a validation loop where everything is affirmed instead of examined.
The response about childhood trauma especially alarmed Dr. Goodnight. “I actually have chills like how wrong that would feel,” she said of the bot’s so-called “tough truth.” “It's really important that no one tells you that, and you sort of figure it out and feel your way through.”
She emphasized that therapy is rooted in relationship and safety — something a chatbot simply can’t offer compared to an actual person. “Here is this human who's going to be with you and come alongside you while you're developing,” she said. So use AI to sort your calendar or plan your vacation, but when it comes to mental health, seek out a real person, not an algorithm. Even Chat GPT will tell you to see a therapist.
