A staggering one billion people worldwide live with a mental health condition. That’s one in eight of us. And we simply don’t have the resources to cope.
I don’t support the use of AI as a replacement for therapy. But when demand so vastly outstrips supply, it’s hard to argue against reinforcements in the form of anything that genuinely helps.
I have used AI myself and felt supported. I don’t hide the fact that I live with OCD, and there are times when I hit a wall. In those moments, ChatGPT has allowed me to vent and reminded me of tools I already know how to use. It feels like a friend saying, you’ve got this, just use your strategies, you’re not alone.
Would I prefer to speak to an experienced therapist? Of course. But in the absence of one, my AI friend can hold my hand.
You can read about this in more detail in AI Therapy: Can Chatbots Support Mental Health. In short, there is evidence that AI can help with certain issues, particularly loneliness, relationship difficulties, and emotional support. Apps such as Wysa and Woebot, which are specifically designed for mental health, have also shown benefit for common conditions like anxiety and depression.
In March, the first randomised trial demonstrated that a generative AI therapy chatbot, Therabot, reduced symptoms of clinical depression, anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms. Fine-tuned AI chatbots may offer a feasible way to deliver personalised mental health support at scale, although further research is needed. AI isn’t therapy, but it may form part of the wider support system when nothing else is available.
Societal pressures shaping mental health in 2025
Before reflecting on treatments and technologies, let’s take a look at our environment. In 2025, much of the mental health burden was driven by prolonged, cumulative strain.
Cost of living stress, heavy workloads, and job insecurity are widely reported on both sides of the Atlantic, while arguments about hybrid working and return to office policies have become a new source of stress.
These worries have been a constant backdrop for many, keeping the nervous system on alert. Sleep suffers, relationships strain, and low-level anxiety becomes chronic. For some, this slides into depression.
Hybrid working, once framed as a wellbeing win, started to look different in 2025, as companies started to mandate people back to the office or scale back hybrid arrangements. Once a flexibility that acted as a buffer against burnout, its erosion started to become a fresh source of anxiety.
Young people and mental health
Also noticeable last year, was a growing number of adolescents struggling with their mental health. As a backdrop to this, in the UK, recent data showed a shockingly high rate of young people (1 in 8) not in education, employment, or training. Not too much higher than rates in the US.
Globally, around one in seven adolescents is estimated to be living with a mental health disorder. Anxiety and depression remain among the leading causes of illness, and suicide is a leading cause of death in older teenagers.
In countries such as the UK, the US, and Australia, where national data are robust, the trend is strikingly consistent. A large minority of young people report symptoms severe enough to meet criteria for a probable mental health condition, alongside sharp rises in self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and persistent low mood. In lower-income countries, data are less complete, but where studies exist, they point in the same direction.
It isn’t difficult to see why. Adolescence is already a vulnerable period. Identities are forming, friendships feel all-consuming, and stability can be hard to find. All of this now unfolds under constant social media scrutiny, alongside the lingering effects of the pandemic, global conflict, climate anxiety, and uncertain economic futures.
It’ll be interesting to see how Australia’s restrictions on mobile phones in schools play out. Evidence for direct mental health benefits is mixed, but improved concentration and face to face interaction seem plausible.
In New York, a new law will require social media platforms using infinite scrolling, autoplay, and algorithm-driven feeds to display warnings about potential harm to young users’ mental health.
Whether those warnings will meaningfully change behaviour remains to be seen. They may struggle to compete with the speed of the scroll, and they’re unlikely to have the visceral impact of a tar stained lung on a cigarette packet.
A brain stimulation device for depression
So in tech news, 2025 saw the US regulatory approval of an at-home brain stimulation device for major depressive disorder, an important step for widening access rather than a brand new development.
Known as Flow FL 100, it delivers a gentle electrical current to the part of the brain involved in mood regulation. It’s designed for home use under remote supervision and can be used either alone or alongside other treatments.
This should be a welcome development because it offers a medication-free option for adults with moderate to severe depression. The device has been available in the UK since 2019 and can be purchased directly from the manufacturer.
So far, it has been used by more than 55,000 people across Europe, the UK, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Patients typically follow a twelve week course, starting with five sessions per week for three weeks, then tapering to two or three sessions weekly for the remaining nine weeks. Each session lasts thirty minutes, and continued use for several months is encouraged to support longer-term recovery.
Like most treatments, it doesn’t work for everyone, and adherence can be challenging. But it represents a meaningful expansion of non-pharmacological options at a time when new approaches are badly needed.
More developments in depression treatment
2025 also brought renewed interest in repurposed medications. A trial investigating pramipexole, a drug traditionally used in Parkinson’s disease, showed promising effects for difficult-to-treat depression. The study was small, involving around 150 patients, and side effects were significant, with around one in five participants dropping out. Encouraging results, but a reminder that progress in mental health treatment is rarely simple.
The rise of psychedelics
Investment in new treatments has been limited, and we haven’t seen truly novel psychiatric medications for decades. Current antidepressants remain effective for many, but unpredictable and disappointing for others.
So it’s no wonder that interest in psychedelics is high. Excuse the pun.
Globally, psychedelic treatments remain largely confined to research settings or tightly regulated programmes, with limited prescribing in Australia and controlled non-medical access in parts of the United States. Evidence is most developed for depression, PTSD, and addiction, particularly alcohol and smoking.
Several large late-stage clinical trials expected to report in 2025 and beyond are likely to be pivotal in determining whether psychedelics move from experimental use into broader clinical practice, or whether enthusiasm once again outpaces evidence.
Where does this leave us?
The future of mental health care is unlikely to arrive as a single dramatic breakthrough. It will emerge in fragments: digital tools, brain stimulation treatments, repurposed drugs, policy changes, and better prevention. None will be perfect. All will raise ethical and practical questions.
But when one billion people need support, the question is no longer whether these developments are ideal. It’s whether they reduce suffering, even slightly, in a world where too many people are still waiting in the wings.
