ChatGPT isn't a therapist, but it can function as an accountability partner to help you break overthinking habits. One journalist discovered that by using a simple prompt to apply the "let them" rule, a concept popularized by motivational speaker Mel Robbins, she could interrupt anxiety spirals throughout her day and redirect her mental energy toward what actually mattered .

What Is the "Let Them" Rule and How Does It Work?

The "let them" rule is deceptively simple: instead of trying to control other people's behavior or manage situations beyond your control, you acknowledge what they're going to do and focus your energy on what you can actually influence. This doesn't mean abandoning standards or boundaries. Rather, it means stopping the exhausting mental loop of trying to fix, manage, or interpret other people's actions .

For someone with perfectionist tendencies and ADHD, like the journalist who tested this approach, the constant mental chatter about unanswered texts, canceled plans, and miscommunications can drain energy throughout the day. The "let them" framework offers a way to interrupt that pattern by reframing the situation entirely.

How Did ChatGPT Help Break the Overthinking Cycle?

The journalist used a straightforward prompt to enlist ChatGPT's help: "I'm trying the 'Let Them' rule for 24 hours. Every time I feel the urge to control something, I'll tell you what's happening. Give me the 'Let Them' version of how to respond." Whenever she felt the familiar spiral of anxiety starting, she would describe the situation to ChatGPT and ask for guidance using this framework .

The results were immediate. When a friend canceled plans, ChatGPT reframed it as: "Let them have a life that doesn't revolve around your schedule." Instead of spiraling into annoyance or analyzing what the cancellation meant about the friendship, the journalist adjusted her expectations and moved on. Over the course of 24 hours, this simple intervention helped her make decisions faster, feel less reactive, and stop overthinking small inconveniences that normally accumulated into low-level frustration by day's end .

Ways to Use AI as a Decision-Making Coach

• Interrupt anxiety spirals: When you feel the urge to control a situation or overanalyze someone's behavior, describe it to ChatGPT and ask for a reframed perspective using a specific mental framework like the "let them" rule.
• Redirect mental energy: Use AI to help you identify which parts of a situation are within your control and which aren't, then focus your attention accordingly rather than wasting energy on the impossible.
• Create accountability checkpoints: Set up a prompt that you return to throughout the day, treating the AI as a neutral observer who can help you pause before reacting to minor frustrations or perceived slights.
• Reframe difficult conversations: Before engaging with a contractor, friend, or family member about a conflict, ask ChatGPT to help you see the situation from a different angle, reducing defensiveness and emotional reactivity.

The journalist noted that using AI for personal mental health support felt unusual at first, especially since she typically relied on ChatGPT for productivity tasks like managing emails or organizing work. However, the act of checking in with the AI throughout the day created a feedback loop that helped her actually implement the "let them" rule rather than just reading about it and forgetting .

By the end of the 24-hour experiment, something shifted. Situations that normally drained her energy, like unanswered texts or last-minute plan changes, no longer triggered the same spiral. She found herself putting her phone down more often, staying present in conversations, and conserving mental energy for things that genuinely mattered. The key insight: AI helped her realize how much energy she was wasting trying to control things entirely outside her hands .

While ChatGPT should never replace actual therapy or professional mental health support, this experiment suggests that AI tools can serve as useful decision-making coaches for everyday anxiety and overthinking patterns. The combination of a clear mental framework, a neutral AI partner, and consistent check-ins throughout the day created enough friction in her automatic overthinking patterns to break the cycle, at least temporarily.