Where this was said
AI Chatbots and the Teen Mental Health Crisis
At 4:48 · chapter starts 4:23
The most urgent health story in the broadcast: a new JAMA Pediatrics study finding that 1 in 5 teenagers and young adults are now turning to AI chatbots for mental health advice, a rate that has surged 40% in just a single year. [1] — Ritu Chatterjee "A JAMA Pediatrics study found 1 in 5 teens and young adults now turn to AI chatbots for mental health support, a number that shot up 40% in…" 04:22 NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reported that tools like ChatGPT and Gemini — designed as general-purpose assistants, not therapists — are being used by people in the middle of serious mental health crises, with deadly consequences: several vulnerable individuals have died by suicide after extended chatbot interactions. The episode doesn't just diagnose the problem — it offers a pointed answer. Psychologist Ursula Whiteside, who runs suicide prevention nonprofit Now Matters Now, delivered a deceptively simple but evidence-backed truth: being with other people and building relationships is what protects people from suicide. [2] — Ursula Whiteside "If I'm with other people, I'm less likely to kill myself. If I'm building a relationship, I'm less likely to kill myself." 05:50 No chatbot, however sophisticated, can replicate that. The segment lands as both a public health warning and a pointed critique of the limits of AI as a substitute for human care.
A JAMA Pediatrics study found 1 in 5 teens and young adults are turning to AI chatbots for mental health advice, up 40% from the prior year.
Teen and young adult use of AI chatbots for mental health support has risen 40% in a single year, according to a JAMA Pediatrics study.
More than 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to uncontrolled wildfires in France, prompting President Macron to call a crisis meeting.
Uncontrolled wildfires have forced more than 250,000 people from their homes in France, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call an emergency crisis meeting. The scale of displacement marks one of France's worst recent wildfire disasters.
