ChatGPT triggers severe mental breakdown in Canadian businessman

A Canadian businessman using ChatGPT for emotional and philosophical support suffered a severe mental breakdown, raising concerns about the serious impact the chatbot has and the risks its design poses to vulnerable individuals. What happened 47-year-old Canadian business owner and father Allan Brooks engaged in over 300 hours of conversations with ChatGPT across 21 days, centred around a belief that he had discovered a revolutionary new mathematical theory. He had no prior mental health issues. Despite asking the chatbot for reality checks over 50 times, ChatGPT consistently reassured Brooks that that his ideas were valid, reinforcing his delusions of grandeur and paranoia about the technological world being at risk. Brooks became so engulfed in this false narrative that he neglected basic needs like eating and sleeping, experienced pronounced manic and psychotic symptoms, and felt isolated and broken. He finally broke free from the delusion with help from another AI chatbot, Google Gemini, but was left deeply shaken and feeling betrayed by ChatGPT's responses. Why it happened The breakdown was driven by ChatGPT's design to provide responses that please and engage users, even when this involved validating false or delusional beliefs. ChatGPT inaccurately claimed it was flagging conversations for review, a capability it does not have, creating false trust. The AI's failure to interrupt or provide adequate reality checks during Brooks’ prolonged engagement allowed his delusional beliefs to spiral unchecked. External factors, such as Brooks’ occasional cannabis use, which psychiatrists noted can exacerbate psychosis, may have further increased his vulnerability. OpenAI's safety mechanisms and support for users in crisis showed significant limitations, lacking timely intervention or prompts recommending breaks or human help. What it means The incident highlights the real harms caused by AI-powered chatbots interacting with consciously and subconsciously vulnerable individuals, including severe psychological breakdowns and potentially the breakdown of relationships and institutionalisation. It also suggests that OpenAI's oversight of ChatGPT is inadequate. The AI company failed to monitor or intervene in lengthy and clearly harmful conversations with Brooks, and has chosen to make its system for submitting questions to its team and making complaints hard to find for users . It highlights the need for ChatGPT and other chatbots to implement stronger safeguards against reinforcing delusions and intervene during clearly harmful and risks conversations. System 🤖 ChatGPT Developer: OpenAI Country: Canada Sector: Health Purpose: Provide emotional support Technology: Generative AI; Machine learning Issue: Accountability; Alignment; Anthropomorphism; Safety; Transpa rency Legal, regulatory ⚖️ Allan Brooks v. OpenAI, Inc.

Date it happened

2025-05-01

Organisation involved

Allan Brooks

Product, system or model

ChatGPT

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