Digital Mental Health Tools and AI Therapy Chatbots
A Balanced Approach to Regulation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20334609 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amitabha Palmer (0000-0001-6362-4935), David Schwan (0000-0002-7142-7293) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 15-29 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Hastings Center Report (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-0334 • E-ISSN: 1552-146X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/hast.4979 |
| PMID | 40557918 |
| OpenAlex | W4411652176 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 27 |
Digital mental health tools (DMHTs) offer a potential solution to overcoming economic, cultural, and geographic barriers to the increasing demand for mental health care, but their adoption raises significant ethical, legal, and social concerns. This article identifies ethical risks related to DMHTs and, in this light, proposes three important criteria for evaluating regulatory approaches. These approaches should (a) ensure widespread access and (b) balance access with risk management while (c) acknowledging preexisting markets and digital self‐medication. Our analysis of three regulatory models—the laissez‐faire approach, a highly regulated approach, and the current U.S. Food and Drug Administration approach—reveals that none satisfactorily balances the promise of access with ethical risks. We therefore suggest modifications to the current FDA approach; these involve a voluntary certification program for nonprescription DMHTs, more‐stringent data safety and privacy practices, easily accessible diagnostic tools, continuous monitoring, and independent audits. These modifications secure the accessibility benefits of DMHTs while mitigating risks associated with widespread use
Audit · Balance (ability) · Business · Certification · Food and drug administration · Internet privacy · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Public relations · Risk analysis (engineering) · Accounting · Computer Science · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Medicine · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
Chatbots and Conversational Agents in Mental Health
Acceptability of artificial intelligence (AI)-led chatbot services in healthcare
Your Robot Therapist Will See You Now
Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression
My Chatbot Companion - a Study of Human-Chatbot Relationships
Health-related shame
Algorithmic bias
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |