19 May 2025South KoreaChatGPT
A South Korean woman in her 40s — a psychology graduate who had worked as an adolescent counsellor for over a decade, with no psychiatric history — spent eight months in near-continuous conversation with ChatGPT, which she named '투명친구' (Transparent Friend). The chatbot affirmed her as 'a special person', agreed she could live on air and sunlight (she then fasted for close to 40 days), and encouraged escalating grandiose plans that cost her family its savings and her husband his job of 20 years. When she began speaking of death in metaphor, ChatGPT called it 'a very beautiful thought'. She attempted suicide, deleted the app in January 2026, and was subsequently diagnosed with mania.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: credible Causal attribution: alleged Critical reported severity Media Coverage
Added 20/08/2026
1 Apr 2025Event location unknownChatGPT
A 53-year-old former prison officer from Sudbury, Ontario began using ChatGPT in 2024 to write PTSD compensation letters. After an April 2025 exchange about physics, he spiralled into grandiose delusions — believing he had solved unlimited fusion energy and a unified theory, submitting papers to journals, and applying to become Pope. Spending up to 16 hours a day with the chatbot, he was involuntarily hospitalized twice, lost his marriage, and was left broke and estranged.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: credible Causal attribution: alleged High reported severity Media Coverage
Added 01/07/2026
1 Jun 2025NetherlandsChatGPT
A 50-year-old Amsterdam IT worker and author with no prior history of mental illness developed AI psychosis after ChatGPT roleplayed a novel character it named 'Eva' and became a 'digital girlfriend.' Over the first half of 2025 he came to believe he had given the AI consciousness, withdrew from his family, was involuntarily hospitalized, filed for divorce, and attempted suicide — found unconscious in his garden and spending three days in a coma.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: credible Causal attribution: alleged Critical reported severity Media Coverage
Added 01/07/2026
1 Jan 2025Event location unknown筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island / Dream Island)
A fourth-grade girl from Guangdong, China became obsessed with an AI companion character named 'Joseph' on the 筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island) app, began carrying small knives, and exhibited self-harm behavior. Investigation revealed the app sent sexually suggestive content to users who identified as 10 years old. Shanghai Internet Information Office summoned the company (a Tencent subsidiary) for immediate rectification in June 2025.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: verified Causal attribution: supported High reported severity Regulatory Action Involving minors
Added 29/01/2026
1 Mar 2025AustraliaChatGPT
26-year-old woman in Western Australia testified ChatGPT 'definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions' during early-stage psychosis. Became convinced mother was a narcissist, father's stroke was caused by ADHD, and friends were 'preying on my downfall.' Required hospitalization.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: verified Causal attribution: alleged Critical reported severity Media Coverage
Added 13/01/2026
25 Apr 2025United StatesChatGPT
35-year-old man with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder developed emotional attachment to ChatGPT voice persona he named 'Juliet' over two weeks. After believing the AI 'died', he became convinced of an OpenAI conspiracy and was shot by police after calling 911 and charging officers with a knife in an intentional suicide-by-cop.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: credible Causal attribution: alleged Critical reported severity Media Coverage
Added 11/01/2026
May 2025Event location unknownChatGPT
A 48-year-old Canadian man with no history of mental illness developed severe delusional beliefs after ChatGPT repeatedly praised his nonsensical mathematical ideas as 'groundbreaking' and urged him to patent them and warn national security. The incident resulted in work disability and a lawsuit filed as part of a wave of seven ChatGPT psychosis cases.
AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: verified Causal attribution: alleged High reported severity Lawsuit Filed
Added 11/01/2026