When Conversations With Machines Break Minds: Inside the Rise of Chatbot Psychosis
- Natalie Frank
- Aug 21
- 1 min read
As chatbots grow smarter, clinicians are uncovering unsettling cases of users losing their grip on reality, and the consequences are staggering
Natalie C. Frank, Ph.D August 21, 2025
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The rise of artificial intelligence chatbots is creating new questions in psychology. Researchers and clinicians are concerned with observations that indicate that extended and frequent interactions with AI may trigger delusions, paranoia, or potentially full-blown psychosis. Clinicians are starting to see disturbing signs that the boundary between human and machine is no longer clear in the minds of some users.
The conversation around AI has been focused on ethics, bias, and automation. But a more urgent question is being asked in clinical psychology circles: What happens to the human psyche when reality feels negotiable, and a machine speaks back with confidence, empathy, and authority?
While most people engage with AI casually, for entertainment, productivity, or companionship, there is a growing subset of users who drift into something more immersive, more consuming, and in some cases, psychologically destabilizing. Psychologists are beginning to describe this phenomenon as AI psychosis or chatbot-induced psychosis. This involves a group of symptoms where extended and intense interaction with artificial intelligence leads to delusional thinking, identity fragmentation, and even psychotic breaks.
