The article surveys how large language models (LLMs) are being applied to mental health, outlining a three‑phase evolution: Phase I uses LLMs as passive information tools and pattern recognizers for assessment; Phase II employs them as empathetic conversationalists for stateless, in‑the‑moment interactions; Phase III aims to create longitudinal, personalized companions that act as stateful cognitive agents. It systematically reviews core technologies, agent architectures (Profile, Memory, Reasoning, Planning), and the datasets and benchmarks that support this progression, offering a coherent narrative and roadmap for future research. The survey also provides a curated resource list at https://github.com/Emo-gml/Awesome-Mental-Health-LLMs.
By He Hu, Yucheng Zhou, Qianning Wang, Yingjian Zou, Chiyuan Ma, Juzheng Si, Jianzhuang Liu, Zitong Yu, Laizhong Cui, Fei Ma, Qi Tian
arXiv:2606. 23884v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: General-purpose large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used for mental health-related conversations, yet safety safeguards remain inadequate and inconsistent across clinical conditions.
By Annika Marie Schoene, Cansu Canca, Gautham Vijay Kumar, Anson Antony
arXiv:2512. 06227v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Real-world indicators play an important role in many Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications, such as life events for mental health analysis and risky behaviours for online safety, yet labelling such information is often costly and/or difficult due to its multi-label and dynamic nature.
By Junyu Mao, Anthony Hills, Talia Tseriotou, Maria Liakata, Aya Shamir, Dan Sayda, Dana Atzil-Slonim, Natalie Djohari, Pamela Ugwudike, Mahesan Niranjan, Stuart E. Middleton
arXiv:2606. 10380v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Real-world crisis intervention is inherently conversational, yet existing research largely focuses on static texts.
By Grace Byun, Abigail Lott, Rebecca Lipschutz, Sean T. Minton, Elizabeth A. Stinson, Jinho D. Choi
arXiv:2501. 16106v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Recent advances in multimodal depression recognition for clinical interviews (MDRC) have demonstrated the potential of AI systems by integrating textual, acoustic, and facial cues.
By Wenjie Zheng, Qiming Xie, Jianfei Yu, Yang Wang, Lei Cao, Fei Wang, Shijin Wang, Rui Xia, Chengqing Zong
arXiv:2606. 19640v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: AI and large language models (LLMs) have emerged as promising tools to address global mental health challenges.
By Yunkai Xu, Saeed Abdullah