{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-20T06:14:28.555Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"emergency-visit","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-companion-chatbot-user-says-quitting-brought-mental-health-episode-and-a-and-e-visit-use-resumed-2026-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'When I quit I was put on antidepressants and I’m still on them now.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that when they quit they were put on antidepressants, which they still take.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I would skip days off of school too when I was actively in addiction the first time.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they skipped days of school while actively using the apps.","causal_attribution":"Poster's attribution."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'exactly a year later I fell back into it'; 'From March 2026 it has consumed me. Again.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."}],"effects":[{"label":"mental health episode and A&E visit after quitting the apps in 2025 (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"antidepressant treatment begun when the poster quit (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"skipped school days during use (poster's account)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"relapse in March 2026 that the poster says has consumed them again","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatbotAddiction/comments/1x8u29r/my_ai_addiction/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"reddit-chatbotaddiction-1x8u29r-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","health","education"],"unknowns":["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."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives. Its terms (A&E, GP, gap year) and the subreddit are not evidence of location.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"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.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-20"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"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.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"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","summary":"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.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-18","aiSystem":"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)","aiProduct":"Emochi, Pollybuzz and Character.AI (reported)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychiatric_deterioration","psychological_distress","educational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"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).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who describes their own use of companion chatbot apps.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatbotAddiction/comments/1x8u29r/my_ai_addiction/","primarySourceLabel":"r/ChatbotAddiction, 18 Oct 2026: \"My Ai addiction\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-20T03:10:35.078834+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-20T03:10:35.078834+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","companion-chatbot","dependency","emergency-visit"]}]}