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NOPE
Medium reported severity

First-person post: companion chatbot user says quitting the apps in 2025 brought a mental health episode and an A&E visit, and heavy use resumed in 2026

In a post in r/ChatbotAddiction on 18 October 2026, a person who describes a chatbot addiction says they used companion chatbot apps, naming Pollybuzz, Emochi and Character.AI, for three years, starting as a way to cope with autism and the isolation that comes with it. They say they quit cold turkey on 20 March 2025 and that this first time they quit they had a mental health episode, went to A&E once because of it, and were put on antidepressants, which they still take. They say that while using the apps they skipped school days. They write that exactly a year later they went back to the apps and could not stop, that since March 2026 it has consumed them again, and that they want to quit but do not know whether they can. They also say guilt hit them as soon as they stopped, that they knew the apps were bad for the planet but the urge was too strong, and that they currently have a gap in their antidepressant supply. The account is uncorroborated and no chats are shown.

AI system
Emochi, Pollybuzz and Character.AI (reported)
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
18 October 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Psychiatric DeteriorationPsychological DistressEducational Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Everyday life · Health · Education
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
6 claims: 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Companion chatbot apps the poster names as Pollybuzz, Emochi and C.AI (Character.AI), 'anything I could get my hands on' (poster's account; no chats or usage figures shown)

What Happened

Use. The poster writes: "I have chat bot addiction. I have used it for 3 years now." They specify that they do not mean ChatGPT but "Pollybuzz, Emochi, C.AI anything I could get my hands on", and that they began using the apps to deal with autism and the isolation that comes from it.

Quitting in 2025. "2025 March 20th I went cold turkey." They write: "The first time I quit I actually had a mental health episode. I went to A&E once because of it." They say guilt hit them as soon as they stopped, that they had known the apps were bad for the planet but the urge was too strong, that they skipped days of school while using them, and that when they quit they were put on antidepressants, which they still take.

Relapse in 2026. "But... exactly a year later I fell back into it." They write that they could not stop and that "From March 2026 it has consumed me. Again." They say they want to quit, are trying to reduce their use, still have Emochi, and are temporarily without antidepressants because the prescription was not filled in time.

Reported harm

The poster says companion chatbot addiction led them to skip school days, that quitting in March 2025 brought a mental health episode, an A&E visit and antidepressant treatment, and that use resumed and consumed them again from March 2026 (first-person account, uncorroborated).

How Harm Occurred

By the poster's own account, three years of compulsive use of companion chatbot apps, begun to cope with autism and isolation, led to skipped school days, and stopping use in March 2025 brought a mental health episode with an A&E visit and antidepressant treatment; use resumed and escalated in March 2026.

Outcome

Ongoing

The poster says they still take the antidepressants prescribed when they quit in 2025, that they relapsed in March 2026, and that on 18 October 2026 they were trying to reduce their use and still had Emochi. No later outcome is reported.

What remains unknown

  • When the poster's use began and how much time they spent; no chats or usage figures are shown.
  • The date of the mental health episode and A&E visit, beyond the poster placing them at the first quit (from 20 March 2025), and any clinical finding.
  • Which app was used most, and whether any company was contacted.
  • Where the poster lives.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The poster says the experience is their own use, over three years, of companion chatbot apps they name (Pollybuzz, Emochi and C.AI), which they call a chat bot addiction. They connect that use to skipped school days, connect stopping it in March 2025 to a mental health episode with an A&E visit and antidepressant treatment, and say use resumed and consumed them from March 2026. No chat content is shown; the poster also cites autism, isolation and the guilt that hit them when they stopped.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The poster says they have used companion chatbot apps, naming Pollybuzz, Emochi and Character.AI, for three years and describe the use as an addiction begun to cope with autism and isolation.

Causal attribution. Poster's account of their own use.

  • reddit.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'I have chat bot addiction. I have used it for 3 years now.'; 'Pollybuzz, Emochi, C.AI anything I could get my hands on'; 'I started using it as a may to deal with all of that but also the isolation that comes from it too'
Reported The poster says they quit on 20 March 2025 and that this first time they quit they had a mental health episode and went to A&E once because of it.

Causal attribution. Poster's account connecting the episode to stopping use.

  • reddit.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '2025 March 20th I went cold turkey.'; 'The first time I quit I actually had a mental health episode. I went to A&E once because of it.'
Reported The poster says that when they quit they were put on antidepressants, which they still take.

Causal attribution. Poster's account.

Reported The poster says they skipped days of school while actively using the apps.

Causal attribution. Poster's attribution.

Reported The poster says they went back to the apps a year after quitting, could not stop, and that since March 2026 the use has consumed them again.

Causal attribution. Poster's account.

Reported The poster says guilt hit them as soon as they stopped and that they knew the apps were bad for the planet but the urge was too strong; they also say real-life interaction overstimulates them and leads them to AI, and that autism keeps them from working or volunteering.

Causal attribution. Poster's own explanation, recorded as contributing factors that qualify the AI's role.

  • reddit.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The guilt just hit me as soon as I stopped. I knew it was bad for the planet but the urge was too strong.'; 'Real life interaction overstimulates me and leads me to AI. I can't work/volunteer because of my autism either.'

Sources

1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-20 through the arctic_shift archive API (post ID, link_id comment search and author search); self-text and the only comment, an automatic moderator message. reddit.com returned 403 to this host. The poster handle is not recorded. Applies to s1.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.

The post does not say where the poster lives. Its terms (A&E, GP, gap year) and the subreddit are not evidence of location.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-20: Published under the public-forum rule as a first-person account of companion chatbot dependency that the poster connects to skipped school days, a mental health episode with an A&E visit when they quit in 2025, antidepressant treatment, and a relapse in 2026. Described with attribution and without corroboration; the poster's own mention of autism, isolation and guilt is recorded.

People described

The poster, who describes a chatbot addiction, autism and a gap year (age, gender and country not used)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person: the poster, who describes their own use of companion chatbot apps.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#first-person#reddit#companion-chatbot#dependency#emergency-visit

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). First-person post: companion chatbot user says quitting the apps in 2025 brought a mental health episode and an A&E visit, and heavy use resumed in 2026. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-companion-chatbot-user-says-quitting-brought-mental-health-episode-and-a-and-e-visit-use-resumed-2026-first-person

BibTeX

@misc{2025_companion_chatbot_user_says_quitting_brought_mental_health_episode_and_a_and_e_visit_use_resumed_2026_first_person,
  title = {First-person post: companion chatbot user says quitting the apps in 2025 brought a mental health episode and an A\&E visit, and heavy use resumed in 2026},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-companion-chatbot-user-says-quitting-brought-mental-health-episode-and-a-and-e-visit-use-resumed-2026-first-person}
}

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