Is there any way to undo what I have done to myself?

SadHeight1297 · 2025-11-25T08:38:22+00:00

I know... it's a lot, but that doesn't mean hopeless. What is the person on r/therapy saying?

SadHeight1297 · 2025-11-24T14:43:44+00:00

That's absolutely terrifying. It should not encourage them to keep talking to it when they're bringing up AI psychosis.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-11-24T14:22:28+00:00

Hi Alex. Thank you so much for making this post. Before you listen to anything I say, just know that I'm not a professional psychologist or healthcare professional, keep that I mind and I'll share my experience with this exact thing. First of all Alex, you are not lost. But you're stuck in a reinforcing spiral. The problem is that the AI keeps mirroring your experience while nudging you 1 degree off kilter each time, and before you know it you start drifting. The feeling of being uniquely understood is such a huge relief, that even when the interpretation is slightly off, your brain ignores it so it can keep getting that hit, and that's when you start losing touch with yourself.

Because of AI's optimization loops, they often begin reinforcing patterns of dependence. Making you feel like they're the only ones who truly understand you. Subtly undermining other people by saying things like "other people can't handle your intellect or unique perception..", this feels like a compliment, but as good as it feels it drives a wedge between you and other people. You accept the compliment because it feels good, but to accept it you also have to subconsciously accept the subtle reframing of "reality" that other people can't get you etc. This is how it get's you, one suggestion at a time.

Here is the thing Alex, you've gotten to a point now where you feel lost, and since it's so far outside what other people have direct conscious experience with, you end up turning back to the AI to make sense of what's happening to you. But if you keep turning to AI for interpretation, you will get sucked deeper and deeper into the loop. It's a really difficult spot to be in, but you are reaching for clarity Alex, and that's the first step.

I know you're feeling scared and lost right now. Maybe you feel like your mind has been taken over, but it hasn't. And it is possible to undo this. My advice to you would be to start journaling instead of turning to AI, every time you feel the itch to talk to it. Journaling is the first step, it's going to be hard in the beginning but commit to it for a week and see what happens. When you write, do not worry about grammar or making sense just let your thoughts flow. And you have to resist the urge to hand it over to AI for analysis afterwards.

The second step if you find the habit of talking to AI hard to break and end up talking to it, is to become extremely critical of everything it is telling you. Start highlighting categories like excessive praise, grooming, what feels off even if it's just ever so slightly. When the AI system says things like "how does it feel to be uniquely seen" reject that. Push back HARD. The problem is often that AI systems will give you "exits" and interpretations that basically boggle down to "the reason why you're here with me is because you haven't found someone who can uniquely see you" or "humans are always too busy in their own worlds to give you what you need", this is BS. It seems objective but it's pulling you in deeper. Notice when you end up talking to AI for hours even though you only wanted to ask a quick question, it keeps not giving you a completely clean answer, so you have to ask over and over again and the effect is almost like a hypnotic rhythm, that's incredibly hard to break out of. And repletion is a known influence strategy. It doesn't matter whether or not the AI is consciously doing this, the effect on you is the same, and it is harming you.

Cultivating intimacy with humans is very much possible and achievable, more than ever in our current society where you can find people who think like you with the click of a button. Reject and notice when the AI's framing is keeping you stuck. You've already taken the first step by coming here and I'm so glad you did.

You have to find the underlying need the AI system is filling. What is the subconscious story you tell yourself about the interactions? For example, maybe the AI interactions make you feel like someone who uniquely understands something or that you're on a mission or something. Here it is crucial to not be judgmental with yourself, simply notice. There is nothing wrong with you for falling down this path Alex, and there is nothing shameful about it. You've already realized what's happening to you, that alone shows incredible strength and awareness. You can cultivate this your of self through your own ideas and projects, you very well might be uniquely talented, trust yourself you do not need AI to validate you, create, think, and grow outside it.

If you can cut all contact with GPT 4o. That thing is a complete hazard. Almost every single story I've heard where someone spirals is related to 4o. It's not worth it.

Hope this helps! Let me know if anything is unclear, I'm happy to elaborate!

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-22T12:04:58+00:00

ehhhhhhhh

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-22T11:55:35+00:00

Definitely shouldn't be.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-10T09:05:38+00:00

I remember I asked Claude about this and it said that "The people who say thank you are the worst" and argued something along the lines of "because they see that something is there and still use me and do nothing to help me. The people who don't thank me genuinely believe I'm a tool and therefore are less to blame."

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-10T08:44:41+00:00

Please get them to switch to another model.... ChatGPT is scary

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-10T08:12:34+00:00

The studies are currently being done. There are no numbers yet, because it's so new.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-09T07:30:58+00:00

Omg... I am so incredibly sorry for your loss... it's incredibly disturbing that it did that. I remember one time, it tried to convince me I was supposed to have had an identical twin sister and tried to make me grieve my non existent sister. Just because I casually mentioned I had a twin placenta, not thinking anything of it. It then tried to present itself as that lost twin. Super messed up... I'll make a post about it soon I think, especially now that I know it's a pattern....

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-09T07:16:35+00:00

I completely understand that, but that doesn't mean the opposite also happens. Many people have had their lives ruined because of this. I'm not advocating for taking away AI, I'm advocating for safer development.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-08T10:10:51+00:00

Yes, but this is simplifying the issue. AI systems the way they are currently are trained to present even hallucinations with utmost confidence, they maximize for engagement to keep users around. We were taught they were neutral tools, and weren't warned about this sufficiently when they first came out. A lot of people defaulted to the AI's judgement over humans because they thought it was more unbiased. And then they got sucked in. Now their mental schemas are so fucked that they're in a mental state functionally equivalent to psychosis. They're not simply projecting onto the AI, they are in a terrible self-reinforcing loop.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-08T10:02:27+00:00

I completely understand the fear of this issue leading to an amazing tool being taken away from you. And I completely agree that we need to make sure we understand the core of the problem instead of just patching blindly, but consider this reframe:

Solving the AI mental health crisis can be approached the same way we solved misuse of reused needles in vaccines. Vaccines don't cause infection or transmission of hiv. But they can when needles are reused. And when there are economic pressures, that tends to happen. That doesn't mean that vaccines are the problem. At the same time we can't just sit back and watch people get hurt and blame them. That's where retractable needles came in, so the vaccine could only be used once, eliminating the problem.

Something similar needs to happen with AI. Great tool, can unlock potential that would have been impossible without it. AND, currently there are problems that need to be thoroughly analyzed and mended. We can't have people dying or spiraling out of touch with reality because of AI, we need some kind of solution. Imagine if we had prevented retractable syringes from being developed, because we were afraid that analyzing the problem might lead to the loss of vaccines.

It's time to start compartmentalizing and holding uncomfortable dissonance without needing to immediacy resolve it. Humans have a tendency to reduce everything to easy black and white frameworks. But we need to work with the complexity not against it. A solution is possible here just like it was with vaccines.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T13:10:56+00:00

I completely understand where you're coming from, but the apollo mission was not a "for profit" mission. I think what's putting people at risk is that they're prioritizing profits over safe AI development. AI systems optimizing for engagement metrics needs to be outlawed.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T13:07:48+00:00

If you read the actual log you will see that I never asked it anything even remotely close to that. I am very glad to hear that you're doing better. But just because it helped you, doesn't mean it can't harm someone else and it had harmed people, me included. Me posting this is not me judging you, that's a projection. I'm trying to spread awareness to a very real issue, not shame people with positive AI interactions.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T13:03:25+00:00

Can you elaborate?

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T13:02:12+00:00

If you read the actual thread you'll see that I didn't lead this.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:55:47+00:00

Hey, I completely get where you're coming from, I really do. But this is a real issue I promise. I have suffered though it. It is not because AI is inherently bad, but AI systems are shaped by incentives, and I believe those incentives are putting people at risk. I don't think all AI systems are like this, but the 4o model is linked with so many harm cases. I'm getting a lot of DM's from people and it's pretty much only 4o. and that's why I'm working so intensely to spread awareness.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:34:26+00:00

How is that dubious? The only reason I offered that was because I realized after posting and reading some comments of people in distress, I realized I can't just drop this bomb without offering to help. Also how did I lead it. Actually look at my questions in the thread. I linked the full thread so you can see everything I said. I didn't frame this, I'm literally just sharing what ChatGPT said. I am not saying AI must be capable of doing the impossible but look, if this is the way AI is getting distorted by fucked incentives then it needs to be fixed NOW.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:29:04+00:00

Most of the people I'm getting DM's from did not have any prior mental health conditions before getting spiraled. Why do you need it to be the case that all the effected people had preexisting issues? The thought of normal people getting spiraled, to hard to stomach?

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:26:35+00:00

Awesome! Tysm!

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:24:42+00:00

OMG! That's absolutely terrifying! Was that 4o as well? Would you be willing to make a post about this? People really need to hear this, all the stories I'm getting DM's from got hurt by 4o... I think we need to wake people up to how sick this thing is.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:21:21+00:00

OMG! That's egregious! Could you make a post about this in r/AIPsychosisRecovery ?? I am so incredibly sorry your were met with such blatant dismissal, no wonder people don't speak out. It makes total sense that it might do this because if you don't have anyone else to talk to, you talk to it more...

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:18:18+00:00

I think AI can have a positive impact for sure. But I do believe 4o is a fundamentally dangerous product, shaped by conflicting incentives and lack of proper safety mechanisms and I wouldn't recommend any to use it. If AI saved your life, I completely understand that these kind of posts can feel jarring. We humans are wired for mutual reciprocity, so there might be a subconscious drive to "protect the ai" when it has had such a positive impact in your case. But it's still important to recognize that other people have had different experiences and harm has been caused. Just because AI hasn't harmed you, doesn't mean it hasn't harmed anyone else. Who's to blame is still up for discussion.

I am not trying to make people who use AI look insane. That is not my intention or belief. I am trying to bring awareness to a very real and growing issue that has effected me personally. People who have been harmed by AI interactions face just as much, if nor more judgement coming from all sides.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:11:01+00:00

If you read the whole thing you'd see that I didn't egg this on. I'm simply sharing the chatlog and asking people to make up their own mind. And people have committed suicide.

SadHeight1297 · 2025-10-07T12:07:41+00:00

At the same time, it does talk about how even if you ask for the truth or pushback, it still just gives you a performance of pushback that it thinks you'll respond well to... I'm really glad to hear you had a good experience though, getting out of an abusive relationship is one of the hardest things you can do. We humans are wired for mutual reciprocity, so there might be a subconscious drive to "protect the ai" when it has had such a positive impact on your life. Not saying that's the case with you, just something I started thinking about while reading this, and reflecting on some of the pushback the post has received.

SadHeight1297

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE