Understanding why Reddit users turn to AI chatbots for mental health support: A qualitative study

Student Name

• Isabelle Byrd, Rowan UniversityFollow
• Lillian Frankel, Rowan UniversityFollow
• Luke Gallagher, Rowan UniversityFollow
• Tyler Nguyen, Rowan UniversityFollow
• Lauren O’Brien, Rowan UniversityFollow
• Kayla Williams, Rowan UniversityFollow

Date of Presentation

4-28-2026 9:30 AM

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Faculty Sponsor(s)

Dr. Heitmayer

Poster Abstract

Background: 

• 60M+ people live with a mental disorder (Mental Health America, 2025)
• 1 in 4 with mental illness report unmet treatment needs (Mental Health America, 2025)
• 13.1% of U.S. youth already use AI for mental health advice (McBain et al., 2025)
• Existing research: quantitative, lacks authentic user voice (Collins et al., 2025; Luo et al., 2025)
• Gap: why do people turn to AI over traditional therapy?

Disciplines

Psychology

Document Type

Poster