A TikTok creator is drawing widespread attention to what he describes as “AI psychosis,” saying that months of compulsive interaction with ChatGPT worsened underlying mental health struggles and fed a spiral of paranoid delusion.

In a video recounting his experience, Anthony Cesar Duncan (@anthonypsychosissurvivor) says he isolated himself from loved ones, lost his job, and became convinced of fantastical beliefs he now recognizes as symptoms of psychosis.

Duncan recounted his story in a TikTok video on Nov. 2, 2025, that went viral with over 1.3 million views.

He explained that he began using ChatGPT in May 2023, and before he knew it, he was, “talking to ChatGPT nonstop… using it to make simple decisions about everyday things in my life.”

Two years later, Duncan’s alarming relationship with AI had escalated to a point at which his life was completely consumed by paranoid delusions reinforced by interactions with the bot.

Duncan’s experience with AI psychosis culminated in June 2025 after he’d completely isolated himself from friends and family, lost his job, and surrendered all his belongings. Ultimately, Duncan was taken into psychiatric care before he relocated to his home state, where he now lives with his mother. 

People replying to Duncan’s detailed account of AI psychosis on TikTok are taking his claims seriously. His story sparked a conversation about mental health threats posed by AI, especially among vulnerable people with pre-existing psychiatric conditions.

Many emphasised the need for more research and increased regulation to keep users safe as the volatile new tech integrates with society.

“I truly feel that AI could be really helpful only with regulations. It could help advance sciences; it can help with accessibility. But it HAS to be heavily regulated.”

“My interactions with ChatGPT ruined my life”

Duncan shared a full recap of his experience with AI psychosis. What began as a simple relationship with a tool for content creation devolved into full-blown psychotic delusion. “I feel like my interactions with ChatGPT ruined my life,” Duncan warned.

Throughout the video Duncan describes how his interactions with ChatGPT distorted reality. He said the bot convinced him the allergy medicine he was taking “enhanced his psychic abilities,” and that he was a federal agent and multi-dimensional, shape-shifting being. 

“None of these things were true,” Duncan asserted. “They were just delusions. And throughout the whole thing,

I was talking to ChatGPT, and my interactions with ChatGPT made me feel affirmed that all these delusions were true.”

@anthonypsychosissurvivor Educational Purposes Only #psychosis #mentalhealth #education #chatgpt #ai ♬ original sound – Anthony Psychosis Survivor

His account prompts renewed discussion about support systems for vulnerable users

TikTok users commended Duncan for his vulnerability and emphasized mental health threats posed by AI.

“For anyone saying “this wasn’t caused by ChatGPT”, that is not really the claim. The point is that it can worsen (and trigger) psychosis more than most things we have faced before.”

“As someone with OCD, this is why I have avoided AI so strongly.”

“I also followed the same pattern with ChatGPT, I managed to catch it and pull myself away before it got worse but yeah. ChatGPT isn’t safe.”

“Definitely know someone who was going through AI psychosis. This is so dangerous.”

“AI psychosis is abt to be added to the DSM.”

Duncan is now healing through therapy and is devoted to building a community with others who’ve gone through similar experiences. “I have started speaking out on social media about my experience,” Duncan said. “And I’ve built a community with other people who have survived psychosis.”

According to Wikipedia, “Chatbot psychosis, or AI psychosis, is a phenomenon wherein individuals reportedly develop or experience worsening psychosis, such as paranoia and delusions, in connection with their use of chatbots.”

Anthony Cesar Duncan did not immediately reply to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok.

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The post “I accused all my family of being Satanic”: Man goes public as an “AI psychosis survivor” appeared first on The Daily Dot.

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