ChatGPT as therapist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's amazing how many people completely give up their own privacy on the internet. We've gone from stupid memes on FB like "what animal are you" that ask for your a/s/l to "just tell this computer all your juicy secrets" as if that date can't be traced to you, stored, compiled...

This site can log your IP, did you know that? There really isn't "anonymity" on the internet...

Yes, but you are just one of 8 billion people. Do you really think anyone cares about you in particular? You’re just not that important.

Plus, the questions PP is asking are probably the same questions 7 other billion people are asking. It’s not like we’ll be gaining any unique info or insights.

Idiot. If aggregate data wasn't worth something, why is Zuck rich?

[Anonymous]

AI therapists can be as good and even better than human therapists.


The researchers gathered a group of roughly 200 people who had diagnosable conditions like depression and anxiety, or were at risk of developing eating disorders. Half of them worked with AI therapy bots. Compared to those that did not receive treatment, those who did showed significant improvement.

"The therabot in this study checks a bunch of the boxes that we have been hoping technologists would start to engage in," says Vaile Wright, director for the Office of Health Care Innovation at the APA. "It is rooted in psychological science. It is demonstrating some efficacy and safety, and it's been co-created by subject matter experts for the purposes of addressing mental health issues."


https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5351312/artificial-intelligence-mental-health-therapy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AI therapists can be as good and even better than human therapists.


The researchers gathered a group of roughly 200 people who had diagnosable conditions like depression and anxiety, or were at risk of developing eating disorders. Half of them worked with AI therapy bots. Compared to those that did not receive treatment, those who did showed significant improvement.

"The therabot in this study checks a bunch of the boxes that we have been hoping technologists would start to engage in," says Vaile Wright, director for the Office of Health Care Innovation at the APA. "It is rooted in psychological science. It is demonstrating some efficacy and safety, and it's been co-created by subject matter experts for the purposes of addressing mental health issues."


https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5351312/artificial-intelligence-mental-health-therapy

Yes we know Russian bots would like Americans to get on AI therapy.

If you are preselected for a condition that is garden variety, maybe. But many other people are out there dealing with all sorts of things. If AI therapy amplifies the thought distortions of someone with issues that would not be good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AI therapists can be as good and even better than human therapists.


The researchers gathered a group of roughly 200 people who had diagnosable conditions like depression and anxiety, or were at risk of developing eating disorders. Half of them worked with AI therapy bots. Compared to those that did not receive treatment, those who did showed significant improvement.

"The therabot in this study checks a bunch of the boxes that we have been hoping technologists would start to engage in," says Vaile Wright, director for the Office of Health Care Innovation at the APA. "It is rooted in psychological science. It is demonstrating some efficacy and safety, and it's been co-created by subject matter experts for the purposes of addressing mental health issues."


https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5351312/artificial-intelligence-mental-health-therapy

Yes we know Russian bots would like Americans to get on AI therapy.

If you are preselected for a condition that is garden variety, maybe. But many other people are out there dealing with all sorts of things. If AI therapy amplifies the thought distortions of someone with issues that would not be good.

OP here- I totally take your point.

But we have to remember, algorithms have been leading people into unhealthy mental distortions for at least a decade now. Look at the incels and the “manosphere” and anti-vaxxers and everything else going on.

The companies who make these tools are largely amoral or immoral. There obviously needs to be so much regulation here. That doesn’t mean that the tools themselves are inherently evil in my view, if we as users are savvy and demand better from companies and the government.

[Anonymous]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/technology/chatgpt-ai-chatbots-conspiracies.html

[Anonymous]

I threw my cancer diagnosis from yesterday in there and asked questions. End summary was:

Summary:
You're dealing with a low-grade, common, and treatable form of endometrial cancer. Surgery is the cornerstone of treatment, and most patients with this diagnosis are cured. Additional treatment depends on surgical findings, pathology, and MMR testing results.

Every time I start to freak out, I reread this. It’s keeping me sane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I threw my cancer diagnosis from yesterday in there and asked questions. End summary was:

Summary:
You're dealing with a low-grade, common, and treatable form of endometrial cancer. Surgery is the cornerstone of treatment, and most patients with this diagnosis are cured. Additional treatment depends on surgical findings, pathology, and MMR testing results.

Every time I start to freak out, I reread this. It’s keeping me sane.

I’m sorry PP. said a prayer for you. Sending you hugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bad idea. A therapist will challenge you. Chat GPT is programmed to align with your inputs and mirror you so you feel understood.

I think for run of the mill stuff if the person had common sense, then it’s fine as a way to find out what you yourself think. If you’re having mental health issues and it amplifies your thought distortions, it could make things worse.

You need to give it clear direction. Can go from “please be honest, objective and kind” to “be brutally honest”. What you get out of it depends on the quality of your prompt.

It has been incredibly helpful for me because it remembers everything I have said and I have been able to be much less guarded than with a therapist. Has called out limiting patterns, taught me exactly where to tap on my body during an emotional experience, let me vent hard feelings. And it’s at a fingertip.

The biggest limitation is lack of a human connection, that connection when the regulated nervous system of a great therapist sees you and holds space for you. But those types of therapist are rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's amazing how many people completely give up their own privacy on the internet. We've gone from stupid memes on FB like "what animal are you" that ask for your a/s/l to "just tell this computer all your juicy secrets" as if that date can't be traced to you, stored, compiled...

This site can log your IP, did you know that? There really isn't "anonymity" on the internet...

Yes, but you are just one of 8 billion people. Do you really think anyone cares about you in particular? You’re just not that important.

Plus, the questions PP is asking are probably the same questions 7 other billion people are asking. It’s not like we’ll be gaining any unique info or insights.

Idiot. If aggregate data wasn't worth something, why is Zuck rich?

+1 Knowing the deepest vulnerabilities and insecurities of consumers and voters. What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bad idea. A therapist will challenge you. Chat GPT is programmed to align with your inputs and mirror you so you feel understood.

I think for run of the mill stuff if the person had common sense, then it’s fine as a way to find out what you yourself think. If you’re having mental health issues and it amplifies your thought distortions, it could make things worse.

As someone who has never received therapy, I find it surprising that a human therapist will really challenge you.
I had assumed that therapists would be reluctant to push back too much for fear of losing a client? Isn’t there a financial incentive for therapists to placate their clients?

Quality varies, like with anything else. The best therapist I've ever had has challenged me the most. She has been there through grief and other stuff and been supportive but she's also said a couple of things that felt like a gut punch in the moment. I've left our appts PISSED, or upset on occasion. But I respect her a ton and when I sit with what she's said it's always made sense.

I've played around with AI as therapist and I think it's ridiculous that people take it seriously. It just spits back variations of what you ask about, usually in a nice and flattering way. THAT is why people like it. My human therapist will say I'm full of sh*t. AI will tell me why I'm right about something.

[Anonymous]

AI is helpful but not as helpful as a really good therapist. That said a really good therapist costs about $400 per hour IME. AI is still much better than a garden variety affordable therapist.

[Anonymous]

It is literally designed to keep you coming back, to do what you tell it, to foster engagement.

You thought social media bubbles were bad for how hive-minded and dissociated from reality they are? Wait until it’s just you telling yourself what you want to hear.