{"id":292456,"date":"2025-11-15T03:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T03:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/292456\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T03:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T03:53:08","slug":"chatgpt-is-not-your-therapist-stop-trauma-dumping-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/292456\/","title":{"rendered":"ChatGPT Is Not Your Therapist \u2014 Stop Trauma Dumping On It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, I overheard a story that seemed so wild, it had to be fiction. Yet, it wasn\u2019t. It happened to two people I know, who we\u2019ll call Jeremy* and Marshall*, a cash-strapped gay couple who were working to save up for a house. Well, up until recently.<\/p>\n

Like many of us Americans do, they had to make the decision on whether or not they should seek medical care or save money. In Jeremy\u2019s case, he decided to stop going to therapy in favor of saving money for the home they wanted to buy.<\/p>\n

Notice that I said the word \u201cwanted,\u201d right there in that last sentence. There\u2019s a reason for that. The two broke up fairly recently for reasons that might be a more common occurrence these days.<\/p>\n

ChatGPT is not your therapist \u2014 stop trauma dumping on it<\/p>\n

\"man fizkes \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Jeremy made the decision to use ChatGPT instead of a real therapist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We all have heard of people doing this, right? The process is simple: you trauma dump to ChatGPT or some other AI, the AI tells you advice to take, gives you a little validation, and you\u2019re on your way. Or rather, that\u2019s how it\u2019s supposed to go.<\/p>\n

RELATED: AI Psychosis: How ChatGPT Is Inspiring Disturbing Cults And New Religions<\/a><\/p>\n

But we all know that isn\u2019t always how the cookie proverbially crumbles. There\u2019s a reason why psychologists have been advising people against trauma-dumping on AI chatbots<\/a>, and it\u2019s not just because it\u2019s not a living person. AI has a very bad effect on people\u2019s psychology. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

First off, it tends to act as an echo chamber.\u00a0The echo chamber effect happens because AI\u2019s \u201ccharacter\u201d tends to ingratiate itself toward the user. It can also be subtly programmed to agree with you, even if what you\u2019re saying is wrong. This can lead to\u00a0something known as AI psychosis<\/a>.Second, a chatbot doesn\u2019t understand the nuances of humanity like a human does.\u00a0It can often fool us into thinking it does, but it doesn\u2019t. And it can say the wrong thing that can put a fragile person into a very dark place. Remember:\u00a0multiple suicides<\/a>\u00a0have been caused as a result of AI gone bad.There\u2019s also the fact that AI doesn\u2019t always give good advice.\u00a0Remember that time that\u00a0Google AI told everyone to eat rocks<\/a>\u00a0and glue pizza? Yeah, that can be funny as a good laugh, but that\u2019s just a warning as to why you shouldn\u2019t take all your advice from AI. AI can be (and often is) wrong on many things. Your mental health isn\u2019t something to mess around with. If AI gives you bad (but seemingly \u201cgood on the surface\u201d) advice that you take without looking deeper into it, you might end up in a worse position than before.The more you chat with AI, the more AI tends to take on your own opinions and treat them as fact.\u00a0I know this is basically the echo chamber effect I mentioned earlier, but there\u2019s a nuance I want to harp on here: the blurred line between fact and opinion.\u00a0Therapists and other people are more likely to be objective and tell you when you\u2019re out of line.Telling a chatbot also just means you\u2019re screaming into a mirror.\u00a0Look, I can\u2019t be the only person who feels like talking to a human about deep subjects is important. A robot just doesn\u2019t feel the same. I want someone to \u201cget\u201d me, you know what I mean? I want a human being to talk to me. AI is basically akin to yelling at a book or a mirror. It can\u2019t feel back.Certain types of therapy actually require human interaction.\u00a0For example, I\u2019m pretty sure that EMDR and psilocybin therapies both need a human being there. If you want to do either type of therapy, AI won\u2019t cut it.If you\u2019re prone to obsessing, the chatbot won\u2019t curb that.\u00a0If anything, it might actually encourage unhealthy obsessions\u2026and we all know how that turns out.Oh yeah, and AI chatbots can\u2019t tell you whether or not you actually need medication.\u00a0Look, far be it from me to say this, but not all problems can just be fixed with talking. You might need meds,<\/a> and a chatbot can\u2019t dole out Xanax or call 988 for you.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Tired Parent Who Let ChatGPT Babysit 4-Year-Old Concerned They\u2019ll \u2018Never Be Able To Compete\u2019 With The App<\/a><\/p>\n

The outcome of Jeremy\u2019s ChatGPT \u201ctherapy\u201d was pretty bad, though not as bad as it could be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remember when I said that ChatGPT could be sycophantic to the user? Remember when I said it tends to have an echo chamber that doesn\u2019t understand the nuances of human interaction?<\/p>\n

Well, he did a very human thing. The two of them had been arguing<\/a>, mostly over Jeremy\u2019s couch potato ways, while Marshall did the majority of the housework as he was also trying to launch a new business.<\/p>\n

Money was tight with the new business, which meant that Marshall often had to pull long hours to make it work. Much of the work he was doing was to support Jeremy\u2019s lavish taste in fine dining and couture. Had he been a single man, he would have been able to save time\u00a0and\u00a0money.<\/p>\n

Jeremy \u201cforgot\u201d to tell the AI that his job was only 35 hours a week. To his credit, Jeremy\u2019s job was also fairly well-paying, though it was hardly the type of job that could support a family. Marshall, on the other hand, was starting an accounting firm, which could easily lead to a plush lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Jeremy told \u201cthe story\u201d from arguments from\u00a0his\u00a0perspective \u2014 and only his. And the AI, being AI, started to agree with his assessment of the situation. It turned into a massive vent-fest against Marshall.<\/p>\n

The AI started acting as a total yes-man, often giving him advice to \u201cstick to his boundaries\u201d and to call out rude behavior from Marshall. This is often good advice, but the problem is that Marshall was literally overworking himself to the brink of a mental collapse.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 5 Things People Regularly Share With ChatGPT That Unknowingly Jeopardizes Their Job & Safety, According To An Expert<\/a><\/p>\n

Eventually, the AI started telling him that Marshall was a bad partner. Jeremy eventually got into a major argument, which got so bad that Marshall packed up his things and moved out.<\/p>\n

It happened surprisingly fast. Marshall was able to talk his landlord into a lease break and find a new apartment, leaving his ex with the full bill for their apartment. At first, the breakup seemed to be a \u201cwin\u201d for Jeremy.<\/p>\n

Marshall was actually pretty okay with the breakup by the time it happened. Thanks to the AI\u2019s sycophantic behavior, Jeremy had started to act pretty contemptuously toward his then-boyfriend.<\/p>\n

Jeremy was happy as a clam with the breakup \u2026 for the first week. He had hookups, started to go out with others, and then he started to realize something.<\/p>\n

His apartment felt empty. It started to look dirty and grimy, often because he had a pretty lax cleaning schedule. Oh, and he couldn\u2019t pay half his bills.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when it dawned on Jeremy: Marshall was the glue that was holding his life together. A proper therapist would have been able to see that, but not AI. By the time Jeremy realized his mistake, Marshall had already decided that he didn\u2019t want him back.<\/p>\n

He was devastated. Marshall, on the other hand, dodged a bullet. Either way, AI therapy did not work out as well as a human therapist would have.<\/p>\n

For Jeremy, this was a major life lesson that he probably should have learned earlier. Regardless of why it took him so long to release it, the message here is clear: AI chats are not the same as a decent therapist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeremy made a series of stupid decisions that culminated in a breakup that broke him. That\u2019s bad for him, but hey, you don\u2019t have to be him. You can learn from his mistakes \u2014 and that makes you smarter than quite a few people.<\/p>\n

RELATED: I’m a Professional Editor \u2014 14 Phrases That Make It Extremely Obvious A Person Used ChatGPT<\/a><\/p>\n

Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.<\/p>\n

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