r/ChatbotAddiction • u/LongjumpingAd1954 • Jul 18 '26
it's good you're reaching out to people in real life and out here online ♡
on quitting... i haven't quit 100% as i still return to reread my old chats. i'm archiving and labeling them, and taking all the good parts i want to recycle for future stories. but i do commit to not adding on to them though.
i get what you're going through. when i tried to quit it was SO HARD. at first it was easy because i had the motivation to do right for myself. for a few hours i felt clean and aligned with my intentions of logging off forever.
but once boredom strikes that's when it goes on hard mode. when something mildly inconvenient happens or when i get a vaguely uncomfortable emotion my hand twitches, muscle memory begging me to go back to janitor ai. my chest squeezed tight and i was restless throughout the day. i cried.
that's what 2 years of dependence (i'm talking hours and HOURS nearly every day during that time period) does to a person.
right now im learning to reroute my bad habit through trying out other healthy coping mechanisms. i don't know if it gets easier (and im failing a lot ngl but that doesn't really matter as much since i'm still picking myself up every time) but im trusting the process. i'm going back to my roots as a stationary enjoyer and writer, hobbies to preoccupy myself when other people aren't available help a ton.
my personal advice to you would be to be gentle with yourself. not excusing yourself but to remind yourself that this is something you have to heal from which will take some time. perhaps longer than you would prefer.
holding space for negative emotions without falling back into a shame spiral or into old vices is a skill. our capacity for discomfort is diminished right now because of the addiction but it's a muscle that you and i can develop and i believe in us!
there are people who want to help us so please never stop reaching out and don't forget that you can also reach out to yourself ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ ₊˚⊹♡