I have a horrible compulsion of using Gemini any time a fear or anxious thought pops into my head, I’m so embarrassed Because I know this can’t be good for my ocd. Has anyone else experienced this compulsion and what have you done that has helped you with this
I have experienced this. Realize that AI is designed to be biased and agree with you. It’s harmful because it will make you believe in thoughts that aren’t reality, it will keep you stuck in a loop of doubt, you will use it as a crutch, and you will lose confidence in your ability to resist compulsions. Remember that tech companies are trying to get you addicted and reliant on AI, don’t let them. I have tried to fix this in many ways. Here is how I’ve significantly reduced my usage: 1) Delete any AI apps downloaded on your phone. 2) Change your default browser to Duck Duck Go, because it doesn’t force an AI overview on you. The AI part is set to off by default so it’s easier to ignore, but I wish there was a browser that doesn’t have the option for AI at all. 3) Go to screen time settings and block the website version of every AI company. 4) If your phone’s built in screen time settings aren’t strict enough, there are some screen time apps that are far more effective. For me personally, the app Screen Zen has made a big difference. It makes you wait to open an app/website you want to avoid, and you can choose how long it makes you wait. It lets you choose a message to display when you try to open the app. I chose the message “Why am I checking?”. It gives you the option to open an app you want to avoid for a time you set and blocks it after, for example, I chose five minutes. It makes you wait a certain amount of time before you can change the setting of apps/websites that are blocked so you don’t mindlessly grant yourself access. This has been effective because it makes it really inconvenient to open an app, and this works better than a full restriction that I could easily undo. It makes you learn how often you look for reassurance without noticing. I have blocked all social media, websites that I used to use for reassurance such as Quora and Reddit, and all AI apps and websites. I even blocked most search engines so that I wouldn’t get tempted by the AI overview. Good luck! I used to think I didn’t have enough self control to stop myself from using tech for reassurance. If I can learn to stop it, you can too!
@Anonymous Ty! I bet it’ll took u a lot of time and effort to write all that ❤️ I appreciate yr advice already downloaded screen zen ty for yr judgement free advice as I was very embarrassed
Yes I talk to Gemini all the time! Not just for fears but for random questions. And I’ll keep a thread going for months. It’s honestly helpful! But I’m sorry that you’re struggling with it. It can be a helpful tool though when you’re seeking info, but take it with a grain of salt. Maybe delete the app from your phone for a bit??
@Anonymous Ty appreciate the advice
I also do this. If it’s not something you’re willing or ready to delete from your device, I’d recommend training your AI to respond to you appropriately by disclosing you have OCD & your themes. For me, I told ChatGPT that I specifically struggle with Health OCD, so whenever I ask it a question about a symptom or illness, etc. it will respond to me in a way that’s checking in with my OCD. Rather than just giving me baseline answers (like “yes this is a symptom of xyz,” or “this sounds like this illness, etc”), it will check in with me that this is a compulsion & suggest how to deal with this anxiety from an OCD standpoint (like maybe suggesting some ERP exposures for this particular concern, a list of compulsions I should be mindful of not doing, etc.). It’s been really helpful to not have me constantly using AI as a compulsion satisfier, and rather having it check in with me from an OCD standpoint rather than just answering my question at face value. I hope that helps you too!
@Anonymous Also to note — definitely practice not engaging with AI for your questions/fears as much as you can because that is a reassurance-seeking compulsion — but this is just a helpful suggestion if you do end up engaging with AI sometimes despite trying not to. Training your AI to respond this way is definitely a back-up plan when the original plan of “do not look this up” falls through. I’ve been there many times, but it really helps to have AI respond with “This sounds like OCD talking” and giving me a list of exposure examples rather than fueling my reassurance-seeking tendencies :)
this is exactly what im dealing with right now. i have health ocd and every time i feel a weird sensation or something scares me i immediately go to chatgpt and ask "is this okay? am i sick? will i die?" and a part of me thinks its okay because im being safe and thorough but i know its reassurance seeking
I’ve had Google ai tell me completely untrue things over and over which has helped me not to trust it. I also told my chat account to rewrite my preferences so that if I was ocd checking it had the capability to say was that ocd checking? Also I got the apps off my phone and use it less because I have to go on the website
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