In the mental health domain, Large Language Models (LLMs) offer promising new opportunities, though their inherent complexity and low controllability have raised questions about their suitability in clinical settings. We present MindfulDiary, a mobile journaling app incorporating an LLM to help psychiatric patients document daily experiences through conversation. Designed in collaboration with mental health professionals (MHPs), MindfulDiary takes a state-based approach to safely comply with the experts' guidelines while carrying on free-form conversations. Through a four-week field study involving 28 patients with major depressive disorder and five psychiatrists, we found that MindfulDiary supported patients in consistently enriching their daily records and helped psychiatrists better empathize with their patients through an understanding of their thoughts and daily contexts. Drawing on these findings, we discuss the implications of leveraging LLMs in the mental health domain, bridging the technical feasibility and their integration into clinical settings.

翻译：在心理健康领域，大型语言模型（LLMs）展现出令人期待的新机遇，但其固有的复杂性和低可控性引发了对其在临床环境中适用性的质疑。我们提出MindfulDiary——一款集成大型语言模型的移动日记应用，旨在通过对话帮助精神病患者记录日常经历。该应用与心理健康专业人员（MHPs）合作设计，采用基于状态的方法，在遵循专家指南安全性的同时保持自由对话形式。通过一项为期四周的现场研究（涉及28名重度抑郁症患者和5名精神科医生），我们发现MindfulDiary能支持患者持续丰富日常记录，并帮助精神科医生通过理解患者的想法与日常背景更好地共情患者。基于这些发现，我们探讨了在心理健康领域利用LLMs的启示，为技术可行性与临床整合搭建桥梁。