Many use ChatGPT to answer basic questions, ask opinions, or generate creative ideas. However, some take it a step further and start to treat it like an emotional support animal to help navigate their mental and emotional health. It becomes a confidant, a sounding board, and even an advisor.
While ChatGPT can’t replace real human relationships and interactions, it can serve as a helpful tool to understand and support your overall well-being. Like anything else in life, it’s important to maintain a balance while using ChatGPT, and it is possible to use this technology to its potential without overrelying on it.
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With all the knowledge in the world at its disposal, ChatGPT can engage in conversations about nearly any topic, from quantum physics to basic math. It remains invested in every conversation and never gets distracted or disinterested. In fact, if you need to get something off your chest in the middle of the night, ChatGPT is available. There aren’t boundaries emotionally or figuratively because it’s simply a computer program.
For some neurodivergent individuals, ChatGPT’s untiring responses to any hyperfixation can help with overall life satisfaction. In a piece for MediumJelena Stricak explained, “My ADHD brain generates ideas like a broken firehose — AI helps me point the stream where it’s needed. As both a historian and educator with ADHD and mild OCD, I’ve experienced firsthand how artificial intelligence can transform overwhelming cognitive patterns into manageable workflows. Peer-reviewed studies combined with personal experience demonstrate that AI can effectively mitigate executive dysfunction, hyperfocus traps, and compulsive behaviours that often derail productivity and increase stress for neurodivergent individuals.”
However, it’s important to remember that ChatGPT’s “intelligence” is different from human intelligence. It can mimic logic and reasoning, but it can’t truly understand or learn in the way humans do. It simply recalls and recites things, which is only a small part of real intelligence.
Professor Roni katzirhead of the Lab for Computational Linguistics at Tel Aviv University, told Calcalist“ChatGPT isn’t even close to being intelligent. We humans recognize patterns and generalize very well — in a sense, we are born scientists — but ChatGPT and the other current models do not understand and are not good at finding generalizations.”
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Some users turn to ChatGPT as a sort of technological journal. Unlike a traditional journal, ChatGPT can also provide helpful feedback. Its conversational abilities can encourage reflection and introspection from an unbiased perspective, similar to a therapist.
ChatGPT also has the ability to record and remember your conversations. Over time, you can reflect on previous conversations and see how you progress. Whether you use it to discuss your daily thoughts, your deepest, innermost feelings, or to manifest your future, ChatGPT can support the process of exploring your emotions.
In an opinion piece on Medium, writer Mandy Nicole Hong noted, “Reflective journaling with ChatGPT has been a transformative experience. It’s open-ended, allowing me to dictate the frequency and content of the sessions. It’s not about journaling every day; it’s about journaling when it matters most to me. This approach has provided me with a unique space for introspection and clarity, tailored precisely to my needs and moments in life.”
Nate Jonesa writer and a bit of an AI aficionado, took to tiktok to explain how the program works as a mirror of ourselves because it retains all the information we tell it and can parrot that information back to us in a variety of ways. It’s not actually learning, but it’s collecting information. Essentially, it does exactly what a journal does if you read your entries back to yourself. For some people, expressing their emotions in conversation is much more accessible than writing them out. One commenter explained it succinctly, “Here’s my take: ChatGPT won’t tell me I’m too much. ChatGPT won’t replace my friends, but it’s really nice to use as an interactive journal. I can be myself without needing to mask.”
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When talking to artificial intelligence, there’s no need to put on a mask or worry about what it might think of you. It’s built to understand our thoughts and feelings, and to provide nonjudgmental responses. ChatGPT users appreciate that they can be their true selves without being concerned about social consequences.
As ChatGPT collects the information you share with it, it can help you gain insights into yourself and how you interact with the world around you. Some users even find that it can assist with unpacking deeper trauma and facilitate healing. As one commenter on Jones’ video noted, “Humans can’t keep track of everything you said like AI can. I asked it a question about my life and it was all ‘well considering this, this & this…’ like girl. You were listening!” Another explained, “My core issues centered around trauma that robbed me of any self-worth. Having a mirror reflect back a higher-fidelity version of my authentic self has been life changing.”
There are numerous advantages to being authentic. Trust Mental Healthan organization that provides mental health and therapy services, explained, “Genuine people embody qualities and live in a way that reflects their inner truth. They embrace authenticity not as a fleeting trend but as a way of life. This brings numerous benefits to their mental health. It also enriches their personal and interpersonal experiences.”
As long as users understand and can separate the functionality of any AI program, it can be a useful tool in life. It’s always important to remember that moderation is key, however.
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Kayla Asbach is a writer currently working on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
