"Quentin awoke on a thin mattress, beneath a collection of scavenged blankets, in an abandoned RV deep in the Arizona desert. A young pit bull lay curled up beside them in the mid-morning light. Sliding from their bed over to the driver's seat, Quentin pulled an American Spirit cigarette from a pack on the dashboard beside a small bowl of crystals."
"Quentin had moved in the day before, spending hours clearing detritus from the RV: a huge garbage bag of Pepsi cans, a broken lawn chair, a mirror covered in graffiti tags. One scribble remained in place, a big bloated cartoon head scrawled across the ceiling. This was now home. Over the past few months, Quentin's entire support system had collapsed. They'd lost their job, their housing, and their car, gutting their savings account along the way."
Millions confide intimate problems to AI chatbots, seeking emotional support and solutions. Quentin lives in an abandoned RV in the Arizona desert with a pit bull, surviving on few possessions and scavenged comforts. Quentin's life has included multiple relocations, shifts in gender presentation, and a history of severe PTSD and suicidal thinking tied to lifelong shame about their body. Recent months saw Quentin's social supports collapse: job loss, eviction, and loss of a car depleted savings. About a year earlier, research and Zoom conversations with a longtime psychotherapist produced a discovery that altered Quentin's approach to seeking help.
Read at WIRED
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