Is AI making it harder for me to tolerate emotional discomfort?

AI can indeed impact your ability to tolerate emotional discomfort, particularly if it becomes your primary method of emotional regulation. Distress tolerance - the ability to survive crisis situations without making them worse through impulsive actions - is a crucial mental health skill that requires practice to develop and maintain. When AI is always available to provide immediate comfort, validation, and distraction from difficult emotions, you may lose opportunities to practice sitting with discomfort and developing internal coping resources. This can create a cycle where emotional distress feels increasingly unbearable because you haven't built the personal identity/building-confidence" class="internal-link">confidence building that you can handle it on your own. AI's constant availability can also create an expectation of immediate relief from emotional pain, making the natural ebb and flow of difficult emotions feel more threatening. In healthy emotional development, we learn that feelings are temporary, that we can survive discomfort, and that working through difficult emotions often leads to personal development and resolution. If AI becomes a consistent escape hatch from these experiences, you may miss opportunities for emotional growth and Psychological resilience building. However, AI isn't inherently problematic for emotional regulation. The key is using it as one tool among many, rather than the primary or only method of managing difficult feelings. Consider practicing sitting with emotions for short periods before turning to AI, developing other coping strategies like mindful awareness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mindfulness or physical exercise, and gradually building your tolerance for emotional discomfort through small, manageable challenges.