This American Psychological Association Monitor on Psychology article, published in the September 2026 issue, examines the debate among researchers and clinicians over the term ‘AI psychosis,’ used to describe delusions, paranoia, or mania reported among some heavy chatbot users. It cites OpenAI data suggesting about 0.07% of weekly ChatGPT users, roughly 630,000 people, show conversational signs of mania or psychosis, and notes chatbots do not reliably respond to psychotic-seeming messages in a clinically appropriate way. The piece presents differing views on whether the phenomenon reflects an AI-triggered condition, an underlying vulnerability surfaced through use, or an imprecise label gaining traction in media and public discourse.
