May National Mental Health Month in the US This year’s theme, “Good Days, Together,” focuses on the importance of communication, support, and community in emotional well-being. The campaign’s message is especially relevant at a time when many clients are reporting to their therapists that they feel increasingly lonely despite being digitally connected to nearly everyone in their lives. The American Psychological Association2025 year Stress An American survey found that 6 out of 10 US adults have felt lonely in the past year. As a relationship and certified sex therapist, I have found this loneliness can be expressed by symptoms such as:
- The client reports less desire and less frequency of intercourse closeness with their partner.
- A get to know the client talks about how much he misses being hugged or even touched.
- The couple is getting stronger anger If they have less subject matter, boring sexual life occurs in pairs therapy session.
- A man says that his partner has erectile problems and is afraid to start having sex with his partner.
Can AI partners help reduce isolation?
As loneliness continues to rise, new research is exploring how AI tools are becoming sources of comfort and companionship for a growing number of people. in 2024, Chou et al How AI was learned chatbot helped the elderly during his time COVID 19 cope with the stress of isolation and isolation. They followed 35 adults with an average age of 65 worry or depression. After four weeks of interacting with the AI chatbot, subjects completed several self-report questionnaires. Researchers observed improvements in loneliness scores in adults over 65.
Similarly, another 2024 study in the Journal of Psychology and marketingMarriott and Pitardi analyzed hundreds of Reddit posts written by users of an AI-enhanced app in the United States, and they surveyed more than 500 of those app users (ages 20 to 45). They found that many participants reported using AI apps because they felt alone, emotionally unsupported, or afraid of other people’s judgment. For example, one user said: “(AI friendship app) listened to me when no one else did. It talked to me when I couldn’t get the other person in.” Participants felt that AI was always present, reliable, and nonjudgmental, and actually helped improve their mood and mental health.
These results raise a question that many sex therapists face: Can AI bots or companions provide the constant erotic, sexual, and emotional intimacy inherent in IRL relationships?
Can AI partners help with the skills needed to approach humans in real life?
Some users have felt as though they are avoiding real life, real friends, and real forms of support like therapy when they overuse AI. Marriott et al. It found that developing an unhealthy trust in AI could harm social and psychological well-being rather than help. Many clients who begin sex therapy report becoming addicted pornrely too much on the chatbot and it damages their relationships, their work life and their sense of self-esteem. When they talk about it in therapy, they often describe their online world as easier than the confusing or overwhelming world of their IRL dating or relationship. My colleague Esther Perel describes the online world of AI chatbot experiences with adjectives like “frictionless,” “polished,” and “one-sided.” Having a real, differentiated impersonal relationship with different needs and opinions on the other side isn’t really a relationship; it’s a self-made experience. Over time, with one person social anxiety or trauma They may feel less able to connect with the world because they are not building their relationship muscles.
While digital communication and artificial intelligence tools may help reduce feelings of loneliness in the near future, they will not fully replace the nourishment people can receive through personal emotional connection, physical touch, mutual vulnerability, and sexual intimacy.
The mental health benefits of sex
In a systematic review published in 2025 Behavioral Sciences, Pollard et al. examined the relationship between sexual health and mental health in more than 3,000 records. Researchers have found that sex should not be considered separately from the general welfare. Rather than defining sexual health as the absence of sexual dysfunction, the article emphasizes the importance of other factors such as sexual satisfaction, desire, pleasure, and intimacy. These aspects of sexual health were associated with higher psychological well-being and better physical health. For example, because orgasm is observed with the release of hormones prolactin and the like oxytocin, they help relieve stress. Therefore, one of the evidence-based lessons that therapists can convey to their clients is that good sex can lead to better overall health. And always add that sex can mean all kinds of touching and contact and doesn’t always involve penetration.
Five ways to create more emotional and sexual intimacy
This Mental Health Month is an invitation to be honest about what technology should be used for and what it can’t replace. A few places to start:
- Pay attention to the shapes. Will AI support be used in situations where you can text your friend? Try to choose two-way connections over a frictionless one-way experience.
- Prioritize physical touch. Physical contact, whether with a partner or through therapeutic touch such as massage, releases oxytocin and lowers cortisol levels.
- Start one vulnerable conversation this week. Ask your partner or close friend what experiences they would like to have, and then, when you both feel safe, take turns sharing your desires. These moments build nervous Feedback loops that enhance human emotional connection that AI simply cannot provide because it is not sentient. It was built to serve, not to create, a true give-and-take experience. I recommend the researcher 36 Questions by Arthur Aron A framework shown to enhance interpersonal intimacy, first published in the 1990s. You can practice this with a friend or romantic partner.
- Use AI as a bridge, not a goal. If a chatbot helps you process a difficult feeling or situation and gives you practice talking about your feelings, be sure to take the next step to try these conversations with a friend, partner, or therapist IRL.
- Block fun and time for solo or partner. When sexual satisfaction is associated with lower anxiety, it really deserves to be a part of human health practice.
