OCD and AI
I was most of the way through my recovery before AI became something that could be accessed regularly at home, so I'm writing this as someone who has watched the change take place and listened to others as they've explained AI's impact (both good and not so good) on their recovery. From a personal standpoint, I can see both the benefits and costs of using AI in OCD recovery, so I'm going to try to present as balanced a view here as possible. :)
So let's get going!
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming part of everyday life. For loads of us, it answers questions, organises information, and offers support at any hour of the day and for many people, that’s incredibly helpful and convenient. For those of us living with OCD, it can be quite a bit more complicated.
Those of us with OCD often have a tendency towards black or white thinking, meaning we often see something as either all good or all bad, but it's important to know here that AI isn’t completely good or bad for OCD. Like most tools, it depends on how we use it, what it replaces, and whether it quietly slips into the OCD cycle itself.
Let's start by looking at...
... Why AI can feel helpful!
OCD can be painfully isolating. Many of us struggle to explain our intrusive thoughts or the compulsions (behaviours) that follow. This is especially the case when we feel shame or fear how we might be judged. AI tools can feel safer than talking to another person, particularly early on.
AI can:
Explain what OCD is in clear, non-judgmental language.
Help people recognise intrusive thoughts and compulsions and how the OCD loop keep them in the cycle of OCD.
Offer general coping strategies or grounding techniques.
Make information more accessible when specialist support is tricky to reach.
For parents, teachers, and/or carers, AI can also help build a basic understanding of OCD and how to begin looking for support, especially when they don’t know where to start. Used this way, it can help to reduce misinformation and stigma.
As a learning tool, AI has real potential. But, and it's a BIG BUT, things can very easily start to go wrong. And here's how.
The downside of AI for those with OCD
General Concerns
1) AI makes mistakes. Depending on what you put in, AI can make huge errors. I once used it to help me write a personal statement, and it made tons of errors. I knew the errors, because I was the subject of the writing. People new to learning about OCD won't know the difference between facts and non-facts presented as truth. More on this in a little while.
2) AI is not always transparent. Unless specifically asked, AI often doesn't tell you where it gets its information from. How are those of us new to AI and OCD going to make sure we get the most helpful and correct information?
OCD-related Concerns
The difficulty is that OCD often uses helpful tools in unhelpful ways.
OCD is driven by doubt and the urge to feel certain or reassured. (If you'd like to know more about OCD before reading further, please check out this post.) AI is always available and responsive. This combination can make it very easy for AI to become part of a reassurance-seeking pattern. This is a problem because reassurance seeking is a compulsion in OCD and keeps us stuck in the OCD cycle.
AI can be used for reassurance seeking by:
Repeatedly asking whether a thought “means something”.
Checking whether a fear is realistic or dangerous.
Looking for confirmation that recovery is being done “correctly”.
Rewriting the same question in different ways to get a more comforting answer.
This is OCD doing what OCD does best... wanting reassurance. But over time, this kind of interaction can strengthen compulsions rather than reduce them.
The problem with certainty
I mentioned AI responding with certainty a little earlier so let's take that a little further. AI responses are often clear, confident, and structured and this can be massively reassuring, but it can also be quite misleading when it comes to OCD.
Recovery from OCD doesn’t come from finding the right explanation or the most accurate answer. It comes from learning to tolerate uncertainty and resist the urge to neutralise anxiety by carrying out compulsions
.
When AI provides explanations that sound definitive, it can unintentionally:
Reinforce our tendencies towards black-and-white thinking'
Encourage us to over-analyse (which we are already pretty good at!)
Make uncertainty feel like a problem to solve rather than something to sit with, and this goes directly against OCD treatment (ERP), which is all about teaching us to sit with uncertainty.
It's really important to remember that even accurate information can become unhelpful if it’s used compulsively.
Where AI can still have a place
It's up to each of us with OCD to decide how much AI to allow into our lives, but to help you decide, here's a little round up about the things it can and cannot do for you.
What AI can do:
Used intentionally, AI can support:
Psychoeducation about OCD.
Early awareness and looking for help.
Understanding recovery concepts like exposure and response prevention.
The key difference is whether AI is being used to support learning or to reduce anxiety in the moment.
What AI can't do:
AI can't:
Identify when reassurance-seeking is happening in real time and tell you.* (more on this at the bottom of the post).
Adapt responses based on subtle emotional cues.
Challenge compulsions safely and appropriately.
Build trust in the way a therapeutic relationship can.
Remember that AI is designed to answer questions. Whereas OCD recovery often involves choosing not to answer them and sitting with the uncertainty and resulting discomfort. And that difference really matters.
Using AI with awareness
As AI becomes more common, people with OCD may benefit from reflecting on how they’re using it.
Here are some helpful questions you could use to help you work out if you are using AI in a helpful or unhelpful way:
Am I using this occasionally, or repeatedly when anxious?
Does this reduce anxiety briefly but increase it later?
Would I still be asking this if uncertainty didn’t feel threatening?
Am I editing my wording to get different answers in the hunt for certainty?
For all of us with OCD, it’s useful to recognise that AI can become part of the OCD cycle just as easily as online searches, checking behaviours, or seeking reassurance from others.
But knowing that is half the battle won already!
To end...
Ah, OCD really can be a pain in the backside, but by understanding the way it works and by being alert to times when you might be slipping into the OCD cycle, you are such a long way into recovery already. That is such an important skill to have. If you are unsure how you're using AI, keep this blog open next time you use it; it might help you identify how you're using it and whether it's helpful to you.
As always, I really hope this post has helped.
Sending you all loads of love,
Catherine xx
*There is a further reading and listening section just below, but I just wanted to talk a little further on the point of 'AI can't identify when reassurance-seeking is happening in real time and tell you.*' mentioned above.
I have an AI account, and it knows I have OCD. My OCD is okay to the point where I don't use AI for my OCD, but for the sake of this blog, I did a little experiment. I told my AI engine that I had OCD and asked how it could make sure I wasn't using AI for reassurance seeking, and between us, we trained it to be extra careful. It even suggested we use a quick code word or sentence that it can use if it thinks reassurance-seeking is creeping into my usage.
So again, depending on how confident you are at using AI, there are some boundaries that you could put in place to encourage it to help you, but please remember that nothing AI is 100% fail safe.
Further reading and listening:
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