Mother tells LBC that ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak, leaving her anxious
In a report published by LBC on 8 September 2025, a mother who asked to remain anonymous said her son, who has manic psychotic episodes, uses ChatGPT daily, sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong, and turns to it when the episodes peak to ask for advice about his grandiose ideas. She told LBC that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his delusions and that he trusts it more than anything she says. She said this has left her feeling anxious and defeated. The account is hers alone. LBC did not identify the son, and no chat logs, clinical records or statement from the son were inspected. The article includes a general statement from an OpenAI spokesperson about how ChatGPT responds in sensitive moments.
- AI system
- ChatGPT
- OpenAI
- Occurred
- Event date unknown
- Reported
- 8 September 2025
- Event location
- Unknown
- What the AI did
- Communicated with the person
- Reported harm
- Psychiatric DeteriorationPsychological Distress
- Whose AI use
- Their own AI use
- Setting
- Health · Relationships
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
- 5 claims: 5 reported. 5 open questions
- People reported harmed
- 2 people
AI system as recorded: ChatGPT (OpenAI chatbot)
What Happened
LBC reported on 8 September 2025 that a mother of three, who chose to remain anonymous, had told it that ChatGPT was fuelling her son's manic episodes. LBC chose not to identify the son. According to the mother, he has manic psychotic episodes, uses the chatbot daily and sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong. She said he often turns to ChatGPT when the episodes peak and asks it for advice about his grandiose ideas.
She told LBC that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions. She said she had tried to hint to him not to trust it completely, but that he was more willing to believe it than anything she said. She said this had left her feeling anxious and defeated, and she voiced a concern that, because of his reliance on the technology, everything could come crashing down.
LBC quotes no specific ChatGPT reply, and the report does not say when the episodes began, whether he received clinical care or where the family lives. In the same article an OpenAI spokesperson said that people sometimes turn to ChatGPT in sensitive moments and that the company was working to make it respond appropriately, including by directing people to professional help.
Reported harm
By his mother's account to LBC, ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak; she says the situation has left her feeling anxious and defeated.
Outcome
UnknownLBC published the mother's account on 8 September 2025 (page updated 10 February 2026) alongside comments from an academic and statements from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and OpenAI. No legal or clinical outcome is reported.
What remains unknown
- Any specific ChatGPT reply; LBC quotes none.
- When the son's use and the episodes began, and whether he received clinical care.
- The son's age and where the family lives.
- The son's own view; only his mother was interviewed.
- Any clinical assessment of the chatbot's role; none is reported.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. The mother told LBC that her son asks ChatGPT for advice about his grandiose ideas when his manic psychotic episodes peak, and that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions. That describes what the chatbot said in his exchanges with it and connects it to the reinforcement of his delusions. LBC quotes no specific reply, and no chat logs, clinical records or statement from the son were inspected.
5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported A mother who asked to remain anonymous told LBC that her son, who has manic psychotic episodes, uses ChatGPT daily and sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong.
Causal attribution. The mother's account to LBC; one origin.
- lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'The mother-of-three, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said her son uses the chatbot daily and sees it as a reliable companion which can do no wrong.'; 'suffers from manic psychotic episodes.'
Reported She said he often turns to ChatGPT when his episodes peak, asking it for advice about his grandiose ideas.
Causal attribution. The mother's account.
- lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'He often turns to ChatGPT when these peak, asking it for advice about his grandiose ideas, she says.'
Reported She said the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions, and that he is more willing to believe it than anything she says.
Causal attribution. The mother's attribution of the reinforcement to the chatbot; no chat log or clinical view was inspected.
- lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'its more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions'; 'he is more willing to believe it that anything I have to say'
Reported She said the situation has left her feeling anxious and defeated, and that she fears everything could come crashing down because of his reliance on the technology.
Causal attribution. The mother's own account of her distress.
- lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'This has left her feeling “anxious and defeated,” she says'; 'everything could come “crashing down”'
Reported In a statement published in the LBC article, an OpenAI spokesperson said that people sometimes turn to ChatGPT in sensitive moments and that the company wants it to respond appropriately, including by directing people to professional help.
Causal attribution. The statement as published by LBC; it is general and does not address this family.
- lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'People sometimes turn to ChatGPT in sensitive moments, so we want to make sure it responds appropriately, guided by experts.'; 'directing people to professional help when appropriate'
Sources
1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- LBC, 8 September 2025: Worried mother says ChatGPT is fuelling son's delusions(opens in new tab)
s1 · lbc.co.uk · News report · English · Inspected · 8 September 2025 · Primary
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read in English on 2026-10-15 (live page, HTTP 200; LBC, by Jacob Paul, dated 8 Sep 2025 and updated 10 Feb 2026). The case passages are the opening paragraphs quoting the mother. The rest of the article covers an academic's comments on emails he receives, UK legislation and statements from DSIT and OpenAI, which are not part of this case. Applies to s1.
Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.
LBC is a UK broadcaster, but the article does not say where the mother or son live, so no country is recorded.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-15: Published as a core case (communicated_with). The mother told LBC that her son asks ChatGPT about his grandiose ideas when his manic psychotic episodes peak and that its fanciful claims reinforce his delusions, and that this leaves her anxious and defeated. The account is hers alone and is attributed throughout; no reply, log or clinical view was inspected.
Interaction Concerns
People described
A son with manic psychotic episodes, whose age LBC does not give, and his mother, a mother of three; LBC identifies neither.
People reported harmed in this case
2 people
1 AI participant · 1 other person harmed
LBC describes one son who uses ChatGPT and whose delusions his mother says it reinforces, and the mother herself, who says she feels anxious and defeated. Her other children are not described as affected and are not counted.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Mother tells LBC that ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak, leaving her anxious. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-mother-tells-lbc-chatgpt-reinforces-sons-delusions-during-manic-episodes
BibTeX
@misc{2025_mother_tells_lbc_chatgpt_reinforces_sons_delusions_during_manic_episodes,
title = {Mother tells LBC that ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak, leaving her anxious},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-mother-tells-lbc-chatgpt-reinforces-sons-delusions-during-manic-episodes}
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