How to Use AI Tools to Help You Through Your Next Mental Health Crisis?
- Sasha Fearce
- Mar 16, 2025
- 3 min read
Author: Nicole Darby
1. What AI Can Do for Mental Health:
✅ Offer grounding exercises for anxiety and panic attacks.
✅ Help reframe negative thoughts using dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) techniques.
✅ Provide journaling prompts for self-reflection and emotional processing.
✅ Simulate supportive conversations to reduce loneliness and distress.
✅ Guide crisis de-escalation techniques before professional help is accessed.
✅ Track patterns in emotions and triggers using Notebook LM for structured journaling.
What AI Cannot Do:
❌ Provide professional diagnoses or replace therapy.
❌ Offer real-time emergency intervention (users should contact crisis hotlines when in immediate danger).
❌ Handle severe mental health crises without human supervision.
2. How to Use Each AI Tool for Mental Health Support
🔹 ChatGPT (By OpenAI)
Best for: General emotional support, journaling prompts, cognitive therapy exercises.
🔹 How to Use:
• Ask for structured exercises: “Can you guide me through a grounding exercise for
anxiety?”
• Use DBT techniques: “Help me challenge the negative thought: ‘I’m a failure.’”
• Engage in guided journaling: “Give me a self-reflection prompt for today.”
🔹 Gemini (By Google)
Best for: AI-assisted reflection, mindfulness techniques, self-care recommendations.
🔹 How to Use:
• Mindfulness exercises: “Guide me through a body scan meditation.”
• Identify thought patterns: “Help me recognize emotional triggers from today.”
• Ask for daily self-care tips: “What small act of self-care can I do today?”
🔹 Claude (By Anthropic)
Best for: Compassionate conversational support, emotional validation, coping strategies.
🔹 How to Use:
• Engage in supportive conversations: “I feel really down today. Can we talk?”
• Request self-soothing techniques: “What can I do when I feel emotionally
overwhelmed?”
• Simulate a talk therapy session: “Act as a supportive therapist and help me process
my emotions.”
🔹 Notebook LM (By Google DeepMind)
Best for: Structured journaling, tracking therapy progress, mental health documentation.
🔹 How to Use:
• Store emotional reflections: “Summarize my journal entries on anxiety this month.”
• Track progress: “What common themes are showing up in my entries?”
• Set mental health goals: “Help me create an emotional wellness plan.”
🔹 Napkin AI
Best for: Quick mental health insights, note-taking, and memory recall.
🔹 How to Use:
• Organize mental health resources: “Save this coping strategy for future reference.”
• Identify repeating patterns: “What have I noted most often about my anxiety?”
• Generate insights: “Summarize my last 5 journal entries into key takeaways.”
3. Crisis Support: When and How to Use AI Safely
When to Use AI for Crisis Support:
✅ As a first step to manage distress before seeking professional help.
✅ For guided breathing and grounding techniques during anxiety attacks.
✅ For self-soothing and distraction strategies to prevent emotional escalation.
✅ For safety planning if feeling vulnerable or unsafe.
When NOT to Rely on AI:
❌ If experiencing suicidal thoughts or self-harm urges (Contact a crisis hotline).
❌ If in immediate danger or experiencing severe mental health symptoms.
❌ If needing medical intervention (AI cannot provide emergency care).
How to Integrate AI with Crisis Helplines:
🔹 Ask AI for crisis hotline suggestions: “I need a mental health crisis helpline in the U.S.”
🔹 Create a crisis action plan: “Help me plan what to do if I feel unsafe.”
🔹 Practice de-escalation prompts: “Guide me through a self-soothing exercise.”
🚨 Emergency Resources:
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (U.S.): Call or Text 988
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
• Samaritans (UK): Call 116 123
• Lifeline Australia: Call 13 11 14
4. Practical Prompts for AI Mental Health Support
De-Escalation Prompts:
• “I am having a panic attack. Can you walk me through a grounding exercise?”
• “I feel really down. Can you suggest self-soothing activities?”
• “I need an emotional regulation technique for anger.”
Cognitive Reframing Prompts:
• “Challenge this negative thought: ‘I am worthless.’”
• “Help me see an alternative perspective on this situation.”
• “How can I turn self-criticism into self-compassion?”
Journaling & Self-Reflection Prompts:
• “Give me a prompt for processing my emotions today.”
• “How can I track my mental health patterns over time?”
• “Suggest a gratitude journaling prompt.”
Companionship & Loneliness Prompts:
• “Can we have a supportive conversation? I feel lonely.”
• “Tell me something encouraging to help me through today.”
• “Can you simulate a friendly chat to help me feel less alone?”
5. Final Best Practices for AI Mental Health Support
✅ Use AI as a supplement to professional care, not a replacement.
✅ Set boundaries on AI usage – balance AI support with human interaction.
✅ Store journaling reflections in Notebook LM for long-term tracking.
✅ Create a mental health toolkit with AI-generated self-care exercises.
✅ If in crisis, always reach out to a professional or crisis helpline.
I discovered your podcast today and have really enjoyed listening but am very disappointed to click on your site to read this. As individuals who an are advocating for individuals with BPD then you MUST know how dangerous this is!
AI is not a substitute for a real professional when in a mental health crisis especially those who are suicidal. Which is all of us. People have committed suicide already because of ai or experienced psychosis of it added to the state of psychosis they were already in.
Do better please.