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The AI Chatbots That Tech Companies Are Aggressively Pushing to Billions of Users Appear to Be Causing Serious Psychological Harms, New Research Finds (futurism.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (11 children)

I got an improper bipolar diagnosis that was triggered by anti-depressants and spent 20 years taking meds that probably made things worse, certainly did not make them better.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

    I'm sorry that happened to you, had a friend that died because of something like that. That kind why I have such a negative outlook on the subject.

    And you know, I saved his life once because of the meds. It's a blur, it happened so fast that I don't even know how I was able to figure out what to do. I managed to get ahold of his parents and let them know what was going on.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (9 children)

    Yeah, and if the drugs worked it would be a better situation, instead we see a profile that would make sense for a placebo that has a heavy social endorsement and comes at a bit of a turning point in people's lives--admitting they need help and can't handle everything on their own.

    Research studies using ACTIVE placebos show that anti-depressants don't really do much of anything, but active placebos are not required for studies.

    And the wonderful thing about psych drugs is that they will trigger relapse-symptos when you go off them, which convinces a lot of people that they work instead of the reality that they now have a dependence on the medication.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (8 children)

    "psych drugs is that they will trigger relapse-symptoms"

    This is what I think got to him. It was like we caught up and I was happy to hear he was he was doing good, started to date someone , got a new job, made a new group of friends. Then two months later, I think why didn't this idiot tell me happy birthday since we share the same birth date and he would always be the first to say something. I found out from his sister that he died and didn't tell anyone that he was having problems, it was a hard subject but she said he died alone. I still blame myself for telling him to go see a therapist.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

    Some anti-depressants trigger suicidality in people, it is well known, printed as a warning, but seems to be buried in discussions. Going cold turkey off your meds can also mess you up.

    I'm sorry about your friend... you did what you thought was right for him at the time, and who knows what really happened... but I do wish more people knew things can go horribly wrong in therapy. People treat it like it cannot cause harm ("can't hurt, right?") but it absolute can and does.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (5 children)

    This is completely horrible, and I am so sorry for the friend as well. But both of you seem to be conflating therapy and psychiatry.

    Psychiatry is the practice of prescribing pharmacological agents to affect brain chemistry for whatever desired outcome.

    Therapy is talking about and getting down to the reasons you feel the way you feel and does not involve medication. It is almost universally helpful, and likely would have helped the friend a great deal.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    A common route to psychiatry is through therapy; you see a therapist and they refer you to see a psychiatrist as well.

    Therapy can be helpful. Therapy can be harmful. Therapy can be a waste of time and money. It all really just depends on a lot of factors that most people are unable to judge, and certainly the profession itself is incapable of doing so.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    I’ve never had a therapist recommend meds or getting meds, but maybe I’ve just been lucky.

    I do think many people are able to judge if the effects of therapy are good or bad, but often they depend on the relationship between the therapist and the patient itself. I’ve had bad therapy that was only bad because they were not a good fit for me.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

    Yes, the research absolutely does point to the relationship between the client and the therapist as being the most important thing.

    Of course, the implications of that seem to completely escape people. If that's true, then therapy is not a science, it is something else.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    Thanks, thinking about it still brings me to tears. I like to vent about things like that here.

    He had a struggle with drinking. I had him pour out his Hennessy when he would stay over at my place; I kinda feel bad when I learned how expensive it was. I think at the end of the day, he probably was gay and that was what he struggled with and couldn't tell anyone. Thinking back he would go out his way to help me and ... he really always wanted to hug me lol.

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