Young People Turn to AI for Mental Health Advice
Morelos' Impajoven warns that some young people consult apps about physical symptoms and medicate themselves without a medical evaluation.
More and more young people in Morelos are asking artificial intelligence for advice when they feel anxious or physically unwell, Diario de Morelos reported on October 27, 2026, based on warnings from the Impajoven.
Midnight consultations
Rodrigo Heredia del Orbe, director of the Impajoven, warned that this habit is taking the place of seeing a health professional. At a conference at the Secretaría de Educación, a proportion was cited: about three out of ten young people were sorting out their emotional issues on digital platforms. He himself admitted he doesn't know where that estimate came from, so it's best read as a signal rather than a firm statistic.
What he does describe is anxiety, fights at home and personal questions that demand an immediate answer. Immediacy is not the same as care. A chat replies in seconds and never gets tired; but it doesn't know you, doesn't notice that you've been waking up at the same hour for three nights in a row, and won't send you to talk to a real, live person.
«Immediacy is not the same as care.»
Asking an app for pills
Heredia del Orbe mentioned cases that worry him: young guys who open an app, type in their symptoms and walk away with the name of a drug in hand. This happens without a medical evaluation, and the risk to the body is real.
A headache can be fatigue, dehydration or something that needs tests. No app has your medical history or can check your throat. The official linked this habit to a family where it's hard to talk and to the urgent need to build better support networks.
It hurts to hear, because many young people aren't turning to a machine because it's trendy: they turn to it because at eleven at night nobody at home is awake. The Christian response isn't to mock that loneliness or demonize technology, but to offer presence. The Bible says it plainly: "In an abundance of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14, ESV). Real counselors, with a name, a voice and time.
Help with a human face
The institute serves people at three locations: Cuernavaca, Cuautla and southern Morelos. There it offers general medicine, nutrition and psychology. To sustain the service, it works with two universities in the state, the UAEM and the ULA, and aims for each location to have about 15 psychologists per week. It also gives talks in schools (middle schools, high schools and universities) on addiction, violence, teen pregnancy and mental health.
Taking care of your body and mind is not a luxury or something only for the weak. We are made in the image of God, with bodies and emotions, and stewarding that life is part of our calling. The faith has never seen illness as a spiritual failure, or professional help as a lack of faith.
Before telling an app your symptom, do something simpler: tell a person. A trusted adult, your pastor, a doctor or a psychologist can walk with you. In an emergency, call your country's emergency services; at findahelpline.com you can find the helpline that works where you live. Technology is useful for organizing your questions and arriving prepared to your appointment, not for carrying your soul alone. "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7, ESV).
