this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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This is sad on multiple levels. People are clearly hurting and willing to turn to LLMs trained on Reddit posts for help. I know there's still a stigma for some people around mental illness, and for too many help is not covered by their health insurance and unaffordable otherwise, but this "solution" feels more like another problem in the making.
It is. I've cautiously broached it with a lot of skeptical openness and the sycophancy is really going to harm people. It's like going to AITA or relationshipadvice — it's going to tell you that you are completely justified and should get a divorce, stand up to your boss, do the self-righteous thing, etc.
And that's great, sometimes those are the answers. But other times maybe loneliness will be worse than accepting the other person. Maybe you aren't being treated fairly at work but it beats being unemployed. Getting pumped up to storm in and demand satisfaction isn't always the best way to handle things and sometimes we need a little more self-awareness and encouragement to look within ourselves for change.
ChatGPT doesn't get any of that because Reddit never got any of that (certainly not enough). And when folks blow up their lives, it's not ChatGPT that will suffer.
That being said, if you just want a sympathetic ear to listen and you take it like Charlie from work, who has never had a relationship last longer than a case of PBR, telling you to divorce that bitch — it can help people feel heard, help them voice and be aware of their feelings. In some cases it is better than nothing, but I think few people will approach it with the awareness to take the good and leave the bad.
And that doesn't even cover the privacy concerns. I wouldn't want to be in a situation to have my ChatGPT history to be subpoenaed.
The stigma around therapy is shifting to people not trusting therapists to be effective. It doesn't seem like people fault each other for having mental health struggles as much these days but people do not trust that a therapist will be of any help to them. When I talk with other people they say therapy was a waste of money/time even trying upwards of 10+ therapists.
The problem is therapy isn't a catch all for all your problems in life.
People have over generalized it. Therapy works best if it's applied like physical therapy... identify the problem and go through the exercises to deal with the problem...
but that requires a skilled therapist and patient... and often one/both parties are neither of those things. some therapists and clients develop codependency.
ultimately however, the work is done by the person. and a lot of people dont' want to do the work.
If you're hurting, it isn't necessarily because you're mentally ill. You could have empathy, for example.