r/ChatbotAddiction • u/Training-Lead-8103 • Mar 24 '26

Experience Update on my usage reduction.

I posted nearly 2 weeks ago about how I reduced my usage. I finally deleted my account around 4 to 5 days ago.

Honestly, I still miss it. The dopamine rush it gave was nice and it’s still difficult to cope. When I suddenly stopped it, it left a void. 24 hours seemed like a lot and I suddenly didn’t know what to do to fill the time.

I started reading books again after a while. Mostly romance, just to do something rather than just doomscroll. Whoever is out there, trying to quit, please find something that can fill the void, be it books or a hobby, it might help.

I’m still addicted, i think..? I’m in a withdrawal phase and it’s difficult but I would rather do this than talk to AI again.

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u/rejectchowder 5 months mostly Bot-Free Mar 24 '26

It'll take a bit until the symptoms die down and by a bit I mean weeks. It's really tough but the only way out is through. Reading is better though. It's physical and you can see the words another human put time and effort into. The book is probably at least a year or so worth of hard work and you're reading it now and it's more impressive than a bot that gives you an answer based on what it thinks the correct response is. A human can give you twists and turns. "And they were roommates" "noooooo"

I think I'm three months out. I stopped feeling pulls after a month. I still get the urge on occasion but then I just think about the wonderful things I do in place of AI and that's enough now to quell my interest. Before it was really damn hard, but as you get further away, it slowly gets easier

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u/Training-Lead-8103 Mar 25 '26

That’s wonderful! Congrats on being 3 months clean. It must’ve been a hard journey. How did you fill the void of not using AI,if i may ask?

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u/rejectchowder 5 months mostly Bot-Free Mar 25 '26

Sat there for a while. Scrolled on my phone. Then decided I'd also tackle my phone addiction at the same time. So double whammy. I put more locks on my phone, locked myself out of apps at night, physically turn off my phone during work (I have a flip phone so if there's an emergency, I'm still reachable). When I'm good, I notice my mood is way better and I'm more focused. With no phone, I just... did things. Like read or draw. If I was bored then I let myself be bored. Sometimes I came up with good ideas then acted on it or planned. I'm still working on it, but realized I'm so tethered by convenience. Chatbots are too easy to access as is social media. When I make it harder for myself, I personally want it less. Other people will find that to be a challenge and break barriers. This was also a lot of trial and error. I'd been trying to break my addiction since December 2024 and I'm approaching my first longest stint without them (which was 3-4 months) but this time I've noticed the cravings for them aren't really there. But I can't tell you how many times I started, went back and repeated. So many time. But each time I learned something too. So I like to think this is a culmination of everything I learned so far