The sky in San Francisco is blue and the streets are bustling with people enjoying the cool summer, but the atmosphere in my office is different.

Our company is a healthcare insurance provider, so we deal with patients' health data and review claims every day, but we hardly pay attention to our employees' mental health.

Is there a psychological counseling support program like EAP that the company offers? There is none.

Even if I want to take a vacation to go to the hospital, I feel hesitant, and being honest with my boss is even more impossible.

One day, my colleague Steve casually mentioned while drinking coffee.

"I've been seeing a therapist lately. I'm paying for it myself."

Steve is usually quiet but does his job well, so I never thought he would experience burnout.

But as I listened to him, he said that dealing with repetitive claims, reporting numbers, and responding to customer complaints had gradually made him feel powerless.

What was interesting was that the counseling Steve was receiving wasn't just in-person at a clinic.

At first, he had face-to-face sessions with a real therapist, but now he is also using an AI app.

When I laughed and asked, "What kind of counseling can you have with a chatbot?" Steve replied seriously.

"It's better than you think. You just talk, and the AI analyzes my emotions and even tells me my stress patterns."

He was using an AI-based mental health app like 'Wysa'.

He said that just by chatting for 10 minutes a day, it identifies the negative words I often use, the times I feel down, and even my sleep patterns.

And if needed, it connects you with a real human therapist, which he said is less burdensome than a phone call.

"When talking to a person, I feel like I have to be careful. But AI just listens without asking questions, so it feels relieving."

Listening to him, I understood. The stress we face at work these days often comes not just from the workload but from the feeling of 'having no one to confide in.'

If I talk to a team member or a boss, I feel it might affect my evaluation, and if I tell my family, I feel like I would just worry them.

In such cases, we need an anonymous presence that listens to all our stories, whether it's AI or a therapist.

That night, out of curiosity, I downloaded an AI counseling app. When I typed 'I am exhausted' in response to the message, "How was your day today?", the app replied.

"Being exhausted means you made it through the day. Can you tell me what was the hardest part?"

At that moment, I realized that this was the kind of response I wanted to hear from someone. Words that listen to me as I am, without evaluation, nagging, or forcing solutions.

Of course, AI counseling doesn't solve everything. But it helps a lot in organizing thoughts and feelings.

And above all, the big advantage is being able to talk anytime, 24/7. Steve laughed and said, "I can't call a therapist at 2 AM, but I can talk to AI then."

In a situation where the company provides no support, finding these methods to protect our mental health might be a survival instinct.

At my desk in the healthcare insurance company, I analyze patients' health data today, but I also realize.

True healthcare is first needed for ourselves.

Perhaps one day, the company will value employees' mental health metrics as much as performance indicators and provide subscriptions for AI counseling apps as benefits.

Until that day comes, we each have to endure with our little counselors in our phones.