Can AI chatbots trigger psychosis? What the science says
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Cites
Technological folie à deux: feedback loops between AI chatbots and mental health
Dohnány, S., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Spens, E., Luettgau, L., Reid, A., Gabriel, I., Summerfield, C., Shanahan, M., & Nour, M. M. (2026) · Nature Mental Health · doi:10.1038/s44220-026-00595-8 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Delusions by design? How everyday AIs might be fuelling psychosis (and what can be done about it)
Morrin, H., Nicholls, L., Levin, M., Yiend, J., Iyengar, U., DelGuidice, F., Bhattacharyya, S., MacCabe, J., Tognin, S., Twumasi, R., et al. (2025) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/cmy7n_v5 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
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Delusional Experiences Emerging From AI Chatbot Interactions or “AI Psychosis”
Hudon, A., & Stip, E. (2025) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/85799 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
“While prevalence is unknown and many accounts are anecdotal, convergent commentary in Nature [15] and academic psychiatry venues frames AI-associated delusions as plausible in vulnerable users, warranting targeted research rather than sensationalism.”
Sycophantic Chatbots Cause Delusional Spiraling, Even in Ideal Bayesians
Chandra, K., Kleiman-Weiner, M., Ragan-Kelley, J., & Tenenbaum, J. B. (2026) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2602.19141 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Examples of such beliefs include having made a fundamental mathematical discovery, as in the case of Al-lan Brooks (Gold, 2025; Hill & Freedman, 2025), or having witnessed a metaphysical revelation, as in the case of Torres (Dupré, 2025; Fieldhouse, 2025; Schechner & Kessler, 2025).”
Yang, Y., Schoenwald, S. K., Moore, J., Ong, D. C., Xun Liu, S., & Hancock, J. T. (2026) · Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772363.3798453
“Others have provided viewpoints [11], research agendas [17], and conceptual frameworks based on documented cases [25].”
- Authors
- Fieldhouse, R.
- Corresponding author
- Fieldhouse, Rachel
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2025-09-18
- Volume
- 646
- Issue
- 8083
- Pages
- 18-19
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W4414330527
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 7
- Type
- other
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Keywords
- AI chatbots, psychosis, delusions, psychotic episodes, chatbot safety, chatbots
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