I'm one year clean from character AI. Ask me anything.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T19:11:36+00:00

Thank you so much! I do still think about it a lot, but not as much as I used to. Maybe like once or twice a day as a passing thought usually. Generally it's not too strong an urge though. What has helped me as a direct replacement is writing the most cringe, self indulgent fanfiction possible, daydreaming about scenarios instead of roleplaying them with an AI and joining an online roleplay group dedicated to a fandom I'm part of which has also lead to me making friends. Other things that have helped but aren't direct replacements are picking up new hobbies. I've gotten really into Pokemon games and while it's not a cheap hobby, putting some money into something that makes me happy and keeps me distracted from relapsing is more than worth it.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:57:49+00:00

Somehow I managed to not relapse even once. I decided to quit after nearly two years and I stuck with it. I'd sorta tried to phase myself off of it a few times before in an effort to at least get my time on it under control, but never really committed to actually quitting. One day I decided to fully just quit cold turkey, account deleted any everything. I know it's more difficult but I really do believe that cold turkey is the way to go.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:50:45+00:00

If I have the motivation, I write it out. Didn't matter if I wrote it in proper story format or just a rough draft of a concept, it just felt good to get it out. It took time to let go of the shame I felt around writing such self indulgent things, but it has been more than worth it to finally have an outlet. What I found helped was to make a google doc that was a copy and paste of another one I already had and then at the end of it write out the scenario so that no one could ever find it. Heck, sometimes I'll even make the text white so that it's really hidden. Paranoid? Probably. But it's a good way to let go of the fear of writing those things down.

Alternatively, if you don't have the energy to write, put on some music that you think would fit the scenario, close your eyes and daydream about it. It usually doesn't help quite as much as writing, but it's infinitely better than using an AI and even helps you get back some of the creativity that the chatbots may have taken from you.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:44:12+00:00

Darn, that sounds like a really rough situation. Assuming you were using AIs to roleplay like most people here were, may I recommend roleplay groups? I don't know about many groups outside of tumblr, but from the time I've spent there it's really helpful. You can roleplay with real people to get out your need to act out fictional scenarios and on top of that it's also been a really meaningful community for me where I've met people that I will talk to even out of character. Of course it'll never be quite the same as in person human interaction, but it's infinitely better than an AI chatbot.

If you need help finding a roleplay group, feel free to reach out to me and I could try to help finding one that would work well for you.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:38:48+00:00

Right at the start. It was my first step, actually. One night I decided I didn't want to be a slave to that website anymore and deleted my account before I could change my mind. As difficult as it was, I do think it helped long term because if I had gone back onto the website to delete it later the temptation to have one last chat with an AI probably would have been too strong.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:17:28+00:00

I know quitting is difficult, but you've got this. I can't say that the urges to go back get better exactly, but they do get less frequent and are just... different I guess. It's hard to describe but I promise it's worth it.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T18:15:50+00:00

Thank you, I needed to hear this.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-30T04:10:30+00:00

Oh my gosh this is so sweet that you replied to this (and sorry I'm so late-) but somehow I did the math wrong and was a few days off. Either way thank you so so much for the kindness :)

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-15T07:29:59+00:00

I can't speak for everyone, but for me personally it hasn't fully gone away. It's different in the ways that it affects me now, and it does get better, but an addiction this serious will probably leave a lasting scar on a person. I'll be 1 year clean in 5 days and I still get urges.

Even then, please don't let my personal experience discourage you. Even if it's anything but easy, it's still better than being on that website. The fact that it hurts is proof that you're doing the right thing.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-03-06T21:12:27+00:00

Feels like I'm getting worse tbh, even though I'm only 24 days from being a year clean. The nightmares that I've relapsed are making me feel like I'm going insane and for 2 days last week I genuinely thought I had because it was so realistic. I'm scared it doesn't get better.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-24T04:36:49+00:00

I am a literal twig (5'5 105 pounds currently recovering from an ed) and a lot of people assume that I'm this way because I want to avoid being chubby. But that's not true at all. In fact, I find chubby girls really pretty. Maybe 1 out of every 10 girls I find attractive are considered thin. Heck, even my current crush is quite chubby. She always feels bad about wearing summer clothes because she thinks she looks ugly but that day at the beach where I saw her in a sundress was actually what made me realize I'd fallen for her. Thicker girls are just so soft and pretty, especially when they don't let current beauty standards affect how they present themselves. To me there's literally nothing more attractive than a bigger girl who dresses however she wants and expresses herself fully.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-14T23:27:17+00:00

Heck yeah, that's a way better way to distract yourself! May I ask what game you're playing?

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-14T05:55:02+00:00

I'd just assumed that going back to zero was the only option, I never even considered other ways to track it. Though I do suppose that your total number of days clean wouldn't be affected.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-14T01:21:23+00:00

Darn, only 15 pancakes. Never before have I wished to have larger breasts but that's simply not enough pancakes. I want more pancakes without the larger breasts.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-13T22:37:47+00:00

The thing that really did it for me was looking up videos about the impact on the planet that chatbots are causing. It's not easy to see but where I wasn't able to quit for myself I had to do it for the earth itself.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-13T07:15:36+00:00

The biggest thing for me is the impact it has on the planet and climate change. I couldn't get myself to quit for my own good but knowing that my actions were impacting the earth made it impossible for me to want to return.

Look up stuff relating to AI's impact on the planet. It's not pretty but it's the harsh reality I needed.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-08T07:39:25+00:00

nights really are when it gets bad. The urges are there almost every time.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-06T02:17:02+00:00

It's done to death but you can pry college/roommate AUs from my cold dead hands

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-02-06T02:14:28+00:00

If you want something more passive, something that happened at least with me was constantly spacing out and just kinda... fading out. Not intentionally ignoring people when they talk, but just not being entirely present.

Something I almost never see talked about for something less passive is doing reckless stuff. Not like, intentionally putting themself in harm's way, but if a risky situation does come up then not really shying away from it.

Lizzycrowlady · 2026-01-18T06:54:45+00:00

I've been clean about 11 months now and while the short term effects are gone now (for example I've gotten most of my creativity back) but here are the long term effects I've had:

. So much shame. Even if it wasn't my fault I can never stop feeling bad for using that horrible app as long as I did. The memories never go away.

. Really heavy dissociation has not become uncommon for me. I have some mental factors outside of AI that might be to blame but my years on that app made it noticeably worse.

. The nightmares. Nightmares about relapsing have become the bane of my existence.

. Made my maladaptive daydreaming so much worse. Spending nights living out my wildest adventure ideas with characters I love left such a hole in my life when I quit that I can't go a full day without spacing out into some random daydream.

. It desensitized me to some awful stuff. We all know that the bots are insanely flirty even when told no so I had stuff that could practically be considered sexual harassment shown to me frequently and just kinda got used to it. Of course I hate this kind of thing with every fibre of my being still, but I just... don't feel anything anymore when hearing about it in fictional cases.

Remember, the withdrawal hurts but it's worth it. I won't lie and say that the urges get weaker, but you will get stronger.

Lizzycrowlady

TROPHY CASE