You've probably opened ChatGPT with a question you'd rather not ask out loud. A twinge in your side, a strange rash, a worry that won't quit. The chatbot answers calmly, patiently, as often as you want to ask.
Young adults who frequently use generative AI to ask about their health screened positive for anxiety and depression at noticeably higher rates than peers who did not.
The research was published in the Journal of Counseling & Development and drew on survey data from nearly 100,000 US young adults, collected during 2023 and 2024.
It was led by Yusen Zhai, an assistant professor at the University of Florida College of Education.
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AI users were 52 percent more likely to screen positive for anxiety than non-users. The depression gap was slightly smaller, at 46 percent higher odds.
The association persisted after researchers adjusted for age, race, ethnicity, biological sex, and socioeconomic status.
Which comes first is still an open question
The authors stress this is an association, not causation. Anxious young adults may simply reach for chatbots more often than peers.
The back-and-forth with the AI could also deepen worry over time. Both can be true at the same time.
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Zhai described one specific pattern that concerns him. A person asks a chatbot about a symptom. The answer sparks a new question, so they ask again, and again.
"That kind of repeated cycle could reinforce rumination, health anxiety or other distress," Zhai said in a University of Florida announcement about the study.
Repeatedly rephrasing the same worry and hunting for a reassuring answer is a known pattern in health anxiety, long documented in internet-based symptom searching before the current wave of chatbots.
Young adults already lean on AI for health questions
Reaching for a chatbot with a health question is no longer unusual in this age group.
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According to a KFF tracking poll from March 2026, adults under 30 are about three times as likely as adults 50 and older to turn to AI for mental health information.
Among adults under 30, 28 percent said yes. For those 50 and older, the figure was 8 percent.
That heavy use lands at a moment when young adults are the heaviest users of generative AI overall and when anxiety and depression rates in the same age group have remained stubbornly high.
What a healthier relationship with AI might look like
The researchers do not say to stop using AI for health questions. The warning sign is a loop. You ask, feel briefly reassured, then open a new chat to ask the same thing when the worry returns.
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A simple self-check is to notice how you feel after the exchange.
If you walk away with a clearer next step, the tool worked for you. If you keep rephrasing the same question, the discomfort is not information. It is anxiety.
Persistent anxiety or depressive symptoms lasting two weeks or longer are a reason to speak with a primary care doctor or a licensed mental health professional.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.