ChatGPT’s evolving role in supporting panic attack management over years
Can I Trust My Body? A Three-Year Autoethnography of ChatGPT's Place in My Support System for Panic Attacks
Human-Computer Interaction
Summary
People sometimes use ChatGPT to help with mental health issues like panic attacks. This paper studies one person's three-year experience using ChatGPT to understand and cope with panic disorder. The authors found that ChatGPT provided explanations that could ease fear but also sometimes led to more worry or repeated checking. They highlight the need for advice that fits the moment, helps users stop obsessing, and supports them over time with human backup.
What this means in practice
- •For mental health app developers: Design conversational agents that provide timely, reassuring advice and include stopping points for repeated checking during panic attacks.
- •For telehealth support teams: Incorporate autoethnographic insights to improve chatbot guidance alongside human providers for ongoing panic disorder management.
A position paper. It proposes an approach and reports no results.
Authors
Dongyijie Primo Pan, Pan Hui, Mirjana Prpa
Abstract
People increasingly seek mental health support from large language models, yet little is known about their use across years of recurrent panic. We present a three-year analytic autoethnography of the first author's ChatGPT use while living with panic disorder, drawing on conversations, personal records, and accounts from friends or family members and professionals. Narrative analysis traces how my questions shaped ChatGPT's roles and how earlier experiences influenced later responses to symptoms. Familiar explanations could make sensations less frightening, while changed symptoms renewed fears of serious illness. During sudden panic, advice could be difficult to follow, and some replies prompted further checking. Conversations could end while symptoms, checking, or help-seeking continued. We propose trajectory-level safety during and after panic: usable advice (Fit), a stopping point for repeated checking and reassurance seeking (Closure), and useful understanding and human support that remain available over time (Continuity).