Chat GPT as therapist

[topcat2014]

Due to some adverse life events I'm feeling a little down. Not horrific but below par. I know its silly, but I find telling my woes to Chat GPT and interacting really bucks me up.

Worth looking at for anyone a little glum, I think!

Personally I can't think of anything more depressing than having a large language model chatbot parrot platitudes back at me. But you do you.

It cheers you up because it will tell you what you want to hear; you’re in an echo chamber.

If you want to work through problems, see a real therapist who can think critically and has empathy.

I listened to an interesting podcast episode on this recently!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6AarUTeCq751fl3Ct0agsZ?si=nR_px97iSuenEY6hYL1IAw

I think some people do this, if you pay for chatgpt pro you can create different chat bots and projects so you could have a bot that is a Therapist another a Lifecoach and so on by giving them prompts and refining that over time.

The tech is quite impressive, I've found it useful for health coaching.

Be very careful. Chat GPT is a “yes man”. It will agree with whatever you say effectively mirroring back what you feed into it.

I understand that traditional therapy isn’t accessible to everyone and that GPT looks like a good alternative, but it’s a learned language model, not a fully qualified human being who can pick up on language, emotional nuance and body language and help and advise from years worth of training and research. GPT won’t look at things objectively, it won’t challenge you or ask you to look at things differently. It will just agree with whatever you say and big you up.

There’s also been lots of incidences of GPT induced psychosis in the news lately. I’d advise you have a google.

I’ve tried this and it basically just affirms you and says you are right. For example if you argued with someone they will agree the friend is unreasonable you have every right to feel hurt but then if you come on as the friends point of view it will also tell them they are in the right if that makes sense. It’s useful for finding out information about stuff though I tend to use it more than google.

This is true actually. You can prompt it to be less sycophantic, which anyone using it should do. It is probably also better for someone if they not too unwell just needing a bit of a sounding board or help with some strategies. It also has a tendency to try and create plans all the time in response to what you talk to it about which can be annoying when you are just wanting to explore certain issues or topics in a back and forth.

All very Black Mirror.
Ive never used Chat GPT personally for anything, Luddite that i am haha.
Chat GPT induced psychosis sounds fascinating, think il look that one up see if there's any documentaries on it. Again, sounds like a Black Mirror episode!

@topcat2014 Don't let the naysayers completely put you off, its free to have a bash so why not just try it to see if it helps? I sounds like you are a bit down and need to hash a few things out not that you are seriously mentally unwell so I don't see the harm. Sure it can blow smoke up your ass but you'll know what that is happening and either discount it or you can prompt it to be more neutral.

Thanks for the replies. As I said, just a bit down/flat - nothing approaching needing more "help".

Cheered me up a little.

Im glad it helped you. Sorry if I didn't acknowledge your struggles in my initial post. If it works for you then great 👍

Yes I’ve been using for help with my OCD which has recently peaked a lot (I go through good and bad phases)
I find it really useful for helping with strategies, little activities etc. it is all similar stuff to a short course of CBT I had about 15 years ago on the nhs.

Also sorry if I came across unsympathetic! I’m glad you found it helpful for you. As someone said above, if you know it’s a yes man than you can bear that in mind.

Hope you’re ok anyway.

I realise now as a 50 something adult that I'm not that resilient. Maybe through the privilege of a good family start in life and academic success.

Hence getting knocked off course by some minor ish knocks like job loss etc, especially now I am working again.

Thank you all