Men are turning to AI for therapy but there are sneaky risks to it

Why scream into the void when you can talk to the machine?These days, tech-obsessed folks are turning to artificial intelligence for just about everything — job hunting, romance, shopping, and, of course, therapy.While speaking to a human therapist has become more normalized for all, new research suggests that men would rather turn to a chatbot to sort out their emotions and build self-awareness.In a survey of US and UK men aged 22-45, Use.AI found 78% of respondents felt more comfortable discussing personal feelings with AI tools than with friends or family.“Men are not turning to AI because they are shallow or incapable of intimacy.What we are seeing reflects something developmental,” licensed clinical psychologist Dr.

Shahrzad Jalali told The Post.Jalali shared that for some users, AI can provide what men have historically been denied: a safe space to express themselves.“AI offers something psychologically manageable: it’s private, it does not visibly react, it does not withdraw, it does not express disappointment,” the expert explained.“For men who associate vulnerability with exposure or loss of control, this reduction in risk lowers the threshold enough to experiment with emotional language.”This risk reduction is critical among men, especially as experts suspect the “cowboy mentality” of wanting to “man up,” or emotionally repress, which is in direct proportion to the male loneliness epidemic and rising suicide rates.For men who want to get their therapy toes wet, the anonymity of AI is attractive.“Anonymity can reduce shame and lower the threshold for disclosure.

For some men, it may serve as the first doorway into emotional awareness,” said Jalali.However, she notes that anonymity can become a defense strategy.“If vulnerability only occurs in spaces without interpersonal risk, the nervous system never learns that exposure can be tolerated in real relationships,” she explained to The Post.The survey further revealed that m...