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As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly support a friend with depression.
Most people should hand this to a purpose-built tool.
Can you do it?
5 minutesto a draft.
30 minutesto something you’d act on.
Cost, all in£0
Skill neededchat-fluent
Who has to check ityou
What the alternative costsA purpose-built wellbeing app such as Wysa provides AI wellbeing support with evidence-based self-help exercises.
If this goes wrong: an AI-generated message gives false reassurance, misses an urgent concern or makes your friend feel pressured, and you have to repair the situation while they may still need appropriate help.
What to actually do
Use a tool built for this
The route this page recommends
Do it yourself
Second choiceA chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.
How to actually do it
- Open the NHS mental health pages and NHS 111 guidance before starting, so you have a UK reference for urgent or worrying symptoms.
- Write down only non-identifying facts you have directly noticed or your friend has told you, separating those facts from your guesses about what they mean.
- Paste the prompt into a chatbot and add the short context, leaving out your friend's name, address, workplace and other identifying details.
- Ask the chatbot to produce the opening message and practical offer, then choose wording that sounds like you and does not pressure your friend to disclose more than they want.
- Compare any advice about urgent or worrying symptoms against NHS guidance, and contact NHS 111 if the situation meets that threshold rather than relying on the chatbot.
- Send one brief check-in or make one practical offer, listen to the response, and arrange appropriate professional support if your friend wants help or the concern remains urgent.
Prompt
Help me support a friend who may be experiencing depression. Use only the context I provide and do not label my friend or claim to assess their risk. Give me: 1) two or three empathetic ways to start the conversation, 2) open questions that do not pressure them, 3) one practical offer I could make, 4) a short message I can send, 5) boundaries for me as a friend, and 6) clear signs that I should encourage professional help. Keep the language plain and non-judgemental. Do not tell me to keep a serious safety concern secret. If what I describe includes urgent or worrying symptoms, tell me to contact NHS 111 and use current NHS guidance rather than guessing. Do not include identifying details in the response. Context: [what I have noticed, what my friend has said, how often we are in contact, and what I am worried about].
Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.
Hand it to a person
The distant thirdA person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.
What it gets wrong
- AI cannot know whether your friend's words, silence or behaviour indicate immediate danger.
- AI cannot replace your presence, trust, listening or repeated practical support.
- AI cannot obtain your friend's consent or safely handle their private information for you.
- AI cannot take responsibility for a missed warning sign or decide when professional intervention is needed.
What caps this at PARTLY: stakes of error, judgement under ambiguity and relationship.
How we scored this
Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.
| Axis | Score (0–2) |
|---|---|
| Output | 2 |
| Inputs | 1 |
| Verification | 1 |
| Liability | 1 |
| Effort delta | 1 |
| Total | 6 / 10 |
The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.
FAQ
- Can AI tell me if my friend is depressed?
- No. AI cannot reliably assess your friend's condition or risk from a description, and depression is not something you should label for them. Use it to prepare a respectful conversation and check relevant NHS guidance instead.
- What should I say to a friend who is depressed?
- Say that you have noticed they may be having a difficult time and that you are willing to listen without judgement. AI can suggest wording, but use your own knowledge of the relationship and do not pressure them to talk.
- Can AI help me support someone with depression?
- Partly. It can help you plan a check-in, suggest practical offers and explain how to set boundaries, but it cannot provide the relationship, observe your friend directly or take responsibility for safety.
- What should I do if I am worried about my friend's mental health?
- If there are urgent or worrying symptoms, contact NHS 111 and follow current NHS guidance rather than relying on AI. If you think there is immediate danger, seek emergency help and do not agree to keep a serious safety concern secret.
Nearby answers
Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.
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