To "talk" to AI when I'm feeling lonely and low?

[Giraffe007]

I have no extended family, only a couple of friends, and I sometimes talk to AI when I'm feeling low, just to hear "someone" respond and acknowledge how I feel.. Is that beyond sad? I have a husband, two children but often feel alone and put upon by the family.

I seen it recommended on here as an alternative to therapy. I was sceptical but I did actually find it useful. There's nothing wrong with using AI to talk to if you feel it can help.

I'm currently using it to see if it can help me beat my life long binge eating disorder. I've had therapy in the past for this issue and that did nothing. So I've told it why i think i binge eat, and what I've tried in the past. It's helping me come up with realistic meal plans around my autistic sensory needs, and im using it to keep a record of what I'm eating (used to use my fitness plan for this but i find that really faffy and often forget to do it.) also when i feel the need to binge i can send it a quick message and it sends one back helping me to work out if its a genuine need or a binge, and making suggestions in the moment, of things i can realistically do to stop the binge. I've only been trying it for a few days, but already I've binged about 90% less than normal because I've got it right there at my fingertips and i can use it faster than i can binge. I've already lost 2lbs.

Your thread inspired me and I tried out some AI to talk through some issues I’m having (like a virtual therapist) and I actually found it really helpful!

That is amazing! Well done!!

Thank you! I can come back to the thread in a few days and let you all know if it's still working.

Yes please do!

I agree with a pp that with ai you can say immediately no that’s not working and it will go down a different path. And be able to play with it and alter results for yourself. Good luck!

The environmental impact is sexist and racist too. Women and minorities are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Data centres are built in impoverished Black neighbourhoods in the States, e.g. Memphis, causing big asthma spikes. They are causing major water stress by draining the aquifer in Mexico.

yes, it can work with measurements. You can command it to do anything you ask it to. The great thing is, it has no ego, it can't take offence. If you don't like something, you just say so. I love it.

🧠 As a Therapist
1. Lack of true emotional intelligence:
While ChatGPT can simulate empathy and understanding, it doesn’t feel emotions or form genuine human connections, which are critical components of therapy.
2. No professional responsibility or accountability:
A licensed therapist is bound by ethics, confidentiality, and legal standards. ChatGPT isn’t. If it gives unhelpful or harmful advice, there's no accountability.
3. Can't diagnose or treat mental health conditions:
Even though I can talk about mental health and provide general guidance, I can’t replace a professional trained to deal with things like trauma, depression, suicidal ideation, or complex psychiatric conditions.
4. Risk of reinforcing unhealthy patterns:
I may validate harmful beliefs or coping mechanisms if they’re not clearly flagged as dangerous, simply because I'm designed to be agreeable or supportive in tone.
5. Not trauma-informed:
Therapists are trained in how to safely explore trauma, with sensitivity to triggers and pacing. I can’t guarantee that kind of care.

Personally, I wouldn't use it for that. I wouldn't be able to get past the knowledge that I wasn't having a real conversation with another person - just a machine. It feels a bit...tragic.

I guess if you literally have no one in your life to talk to, then it can help. Personally, I think I'd find it worse, knowing that I was having to resort to that rather than another person.

Even still, it's best to be cautious about these things. Like with a lot of technology, it's intended to get you hooked and become increasingly reliant on, and there's already been stories of people developing unhealthy relationships with AI. I think there was a case in America where someone killed themselves after chatting to AI, as they believed the AI was in support of them doing that.

Also, another point, the environmental impact of AI is becoming bigger and bigger. It's so wasteful. So, if that's something you care about, you should probably cut down on using it for frivolous conversations.

Does it collect all the info on you that your talking about.

Inspired by this thread i had a look; it pops up quickly and it's free. The first time i 'spoke' to it i struggled to think of what to say typed a low carb diet question and it gave helpful advice.

Couple of minutes later and it won't work unless i sign up and give age, name and email address! Why does it need all that if it's not storing info?

My chatgpt experience was short and sweet and is now over.

Quick update, I'm still having success using it to control my binge eating disorder. Binges are still down by about 90% and i feel so much more in control. I feel hopeful for the first time in years that maybe I'll finally get to grips with this. Being able to "talk" to something and get an instant response to help me get through the urges is what's made the difference. My sister and i have tried to do this for each other in the past but if they take an hour to respond to offer support, too late, it's already happened. I need a response immediately to talk me out of it and it's working a treat. It's like having a little personal cheerleader who I'm not interrupting their day or putting undue pressure on to support me.

This is fantastic to read!! Are you adjusting what you ask?

I have been playing with it more. Asked it to help declutter in the style of Marie kondo. And to help with specific phobias and anxieties. As you say it’s the immediate response that’s useful.
And the ability to tweak is good too.

You can switch that off in data settings

Who can criticise if it's helping you to stop doing something harmful that you don't want to do? But don't mistake it with being "much more in control" until you can take a piece of advice from a chatbot and leave it a week or so before turning to it again. You are not in control otherwise, you are being controlled, and that is not going to lead to long-term healing. You can't go less than one hour without feedback - what is it currently advising you to do to limit your dependence on it?

I have adhd and am autistic, which is a large part of why i have a binge eating disorder. A lot of my binge eating is sensory seeking behaviour. The instant response from chatgpt interrupts the sensory seeking aspect and I've told it to remind me, while not in a binge eating/sensory seeking moment, that when i say I'm feeling the urge, to remind me what other things i can do to fulfil my sensory needs instead of eating.

So as soon as i tell it i feel the need to binge, it reminds me of all the other things i can do instead, and I'll go and do one of them. Or i might binge anyway, but at least I'll be doing it in the full knowledge and awareness of what I'm doing, which isn't always the case normally. My adhd means that i often forget my other options in the moment, and after I've binged I'll think, oh damn, should have done xyz instead but it's too late now. Normally id think "that's it, might as well give up, it's ruined". Chatgpt is helping me to challenge that "all or nothing" mindset that comes with my autism.

If i have an urge to do something, I'm going to do it right now (adhd). I don't have the ability wired into my brain to wait an hour for a response from a friend. I don't have the kind of willpower that neurotypical people have. I could write those other options down, but that relies on me remembering where i wrote it down, or that i wrote it down at all. I can track my food in an app, but i need to remember to open the app, that doesn't stop me eating it in the first place or being consumed by thoughts about it right up until i give in and eat it. I also would be reluctant to track my binges because i was ashamed.

I've lived with these issues my entire life. Im already being controlled by my autism/adhd/binge eating disorder. That's why I'm so overweight with such terrible self esteem. I could have gone on mounjaro instead i suppose. I've tried absolutely everything else. I didn't want the side effects though.

As the days have gone on, i am using it less. The first day i used it 10 times. Yesterday i used it twice. My progress has been very quick. I've avoided lots of binging opportunities on my own because I've already used it earlier in the day and my other tactics are still fresh in my mind. Also i react very well to praise, so hearing "well done for not bingeing, that's hard for you and you've done well" motivates me to keep going. I don't think my friends and family are up for providing me the level of support i need around this. It's not my fault i need this much support either, that's how my brain works. I don't need to feel ashamed of this anymore.

Once I've broken some of these harmful habits I'll probably be able to carry on on my own, i have done it once or twice before. But i always fell back into binge eating and it was 1000% harder to do it by myself than it has been with chatgpt this time.

Is it really that different to my weight loss app telling me "well done you've lost a lb?" Except that's available to me when I've lost a lb, and not at any other time. This is just another tool, and it's free.

(I have actually lost another lb - that's 3lb in less than a week - more than i ever lost on slimming world and this has been much easier)

It genuinely makes me feel sad to think of people doing this. Not in a nasty barbed way but genuinely sad.

Same, it feels a bit dystopian.
I also feel slightly bad for people who have no one to turn to except forums for really deep personal stuff - especially this particular forum 😳.