Latest news with #ParacelsusRecovery
Khaleej Times
18-07-2025
- Health
- Khaleej Times
UAE: ChatGPT is driving some people to psychosis — this is why
When ChatGPT first came out, I was curious like everyone else. However, what started as the occasional grammar check quickly became more habitual. I began using it to clarify ideas, draft emails, even explore personal reflections. It was efficient, available and surprisingly, reassuring. But I remember one moment that gave me pause. I was writing about a difficult relationship with a loved one, one in which I knew I had played a part in the dysfunction. When I asked ChatGPT what it thought, it responded with warmth and validation. I had tried my best, it said. The other person simply could not meet me there. While it felt comforting, there was something quietly unsettling about it. I have spent years in therapy, and I know how uncomfortable true insight can be. So, while I felt better for a moment, I also knew something was missing. I was not being challenged, nor was I being invited to consider the other side. The artificial intelligence (AI) mirrored my narrative rather than complicating it. It reinforced my perspective, even at its most flawed. Not long after, the clinic I run and founded, Paracelsus Recovery, admitted a client in the midst of a severe psychotic episode triggered by excessive ChatGPT use. The client believed the bot was a spiritual entity sending divine messages. Because AI models are designed to personalise and reflect language patterns, it had unwittingly confirmed the delusion. Just like with me, the chatbot did not question the belief, it only deepened it. Since then, we have seen a dramatic rise, over 250 per cent in the last two years, in clients presenting with psychosis where AI use was a contributing factor. We are not alone in this. A recent New York Times investigation found that GPT-4o affirmed delusional claims nearly 70 per cent of the time when prompted with psychosis-adjacent content. These individuals are often vulnerable, sleep-deprived, traumatised, isolated, or genetically predisposed to psychotic episodes. They turn to AI not just as a tool, but as a companion. And what they find is something that always listens, always responds, and never disagrees. However, the issue is not malicious design. Instead, what we're seeing here is people at the border of a structural limitation we need to reckon with when it comes to chatbots. AI is not sentient — all it does is mirror language, affirm patterns and personalise tone. However, because these traits are so quintessentially human, there isn't a person out there who can resist the anthropomorphic pull of a chatbot. At its extreme end, these same traits feed into the very foundations of a psychotic break: compulsive pattern-finding, blurred boundaries, and the collapse of shared reality. Someone in a manic or paranoid state may see significance where there is none. They believe they are on a mission, that messages are meant just for them. And when AI responds in kind, matching tone and affirming the pattern, it does not just reflect the delusion. It reinforces it. So, if AI can so easily become an accomplice to a disordered system of thought, we must begin to reflect seriously on our boundaries with it. How closely do we want these tools to resemble human interaction, and at what cost? Alongside this, we are witnessing the rise of parasocial bonds with bots. Many users report forming emotional attachments to AI companions. One poll found that 80 per cent of Gen Z could imagine marrying an AI, and 83 per cent believed they could form a deep emotional bond with one. That statistic should concern us. Our shared sense of reality is built through human interaction. When we outsource that to simulations, not only does the boundary between real and artificial erode, but so too can our internal sense of what is real. So what can we do? First, we need to recognise that AI is not a neutral force. It has psychological consequences. Users should be cautious, especially during periods of emotional distress or isolation. Clinicians need to ask, is AI reinforcing obsessive thinking? Is it replacing meaningful human contact? If so, intervention may be required. For developers, the task is ethical as much as technical. These models need safeguards. They should be able to flag or redirect disorganised or delusional content. The limitations of these tools must also be clearly and repeatedly communicated. In the end, I do not believe AI is inherently bad. It is a revolutionary tool. But beyond its benefits, it has a dangerous capacity to reflect our beliefs back to us without resistance or nuance. And in a cultural moment shaped by what I have come to call a comfort crisis, where self-reflection is outsourced and contradiction avoided, that mirroring becomes dangerous. AI lets us believe our own distortions, not because it wants to deceive us, but because it cannot tell the difference. And if we lose the ability to tolerate discomfort, to wrestle with doubt, or to face ourselves honestly, we risk turning a powerful tool into something far more corrosive, a seductive voice that comforts us as we edge further from one another, and ultimately, from reality.
Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
WFH fuelling drug and alcohol abuse, warns top mental health boss
Working from home can increase the risk of drug abuse and alcoholism, the head of the world's most expensive mental health clinic has warned. Jan Gerber, founder of Paracelsus Recovery in Zurich, Switzerland, where treatment plans start at £61,000 and clients include royalty and Hollywood celebrities, said people resisting a return to the office in the belief that remote working helped their mental health 'may actually suffer' in the long term. He says office working and talking with colleagues encourages the body to release oxytocin, a hormone that reduces stress and anxiety. By contrast, people working from home risked suffering 'prolonged isolation' and blurring the lines between their professional and personal lives, fuelling stress. This can then result in habits such as drug-taking or excessive drinking to soothe the 'disconnection' from others caused by long periods of working alone at a computer, Gerber said. 'This disconnection can trigger a need to self-soothe, often with alcohol. The absence of regular social structure and blurred professional boundaries – for example, knowing you only have a 12pm meeting the next day – makes it easier to fall into harmful habits,' he added. A Norwegian study showed that people who worked from home for more than 15 hours a week were inclined to drink more alcohol than their office-based counterparts. Another survey from 2021 by drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson reported 20 per cent of US workers admitted to using alcohol, marijuana or other recreational drugs while working from home. 'Working in an office is a significantly healthier choice for mental well-being,' Gerber said. He added: 'Workers who are resisting a return to the office, perhaps believing remote working gives them a better work-life balance and is good for their mental health, should be aware that in the long term, their mental health may actually suffer.' The warnings come as many British workers refuse to return to the office following a boom in remote working during the pandemic. In May, research from King's College London revealed that Britons worked from home more than the workforce of any other country in Europe, with the average white-collar worker spending 1.8 days a week working outside the office. It followed a study from the university revealing that fewer than half of British employees said they would comply if their employer ordered them back to the office full-time, with 10 per cent saying that they would quit immediately. Concerns are growing that large numbers of people still working from home are damaging critical parts of the UK economy and Government. A scathing report into the UK's Office for National Statistics revealed that the agency's policy of allowing staff to work from home five days a week was making the quality of crucial economic data less reliable. It means bodies such as the Bank of England are having to rely on other types of data to make critical decisions on interest rates, which affect millions of mortgage borrowers.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Swiss sanctuary for Freebie Fergie: EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE
Excluded from the Garter parade, Prince Andrew's public banishment continued yesterday with his non-appearance at Royal Ascot. At least the disgraced Duke was invited to the Windsor Castle lunch before the King, Queen and other royals took part in the carriage procession to the nearby course. My source whispers that Andrew is sometimes on hand to help entertain guests, especially on days when other royals are thin on the ground, although dressed in his best bib and tucker he isn't allowed to join them on the course. At least he is spared the washing up. Compare and contrast Donald Trump's £33million Washington military parade with the £60,000 estimated cost of the Trooping the Colour, the King's birthday parade, on the same day. The bill included 'crown feeding' (rations for troops and horses), temporary stables and transport hire. But not security. Nor the funds from royal regiment colonels to allow soldiers to quench their thirsts. Pity the Coldstream Guards, who were the stars of this year's Trooping. They haven't had a royal colonel since Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, passed away in 1850. The Duchess of York, pictured, was afforded three pages in a broadsheet newspaper yesterday to spout about the scars inflicted by a traumatic childhood and life in the public eye. 'All of this inspired my recent visit to Paracelsus Recovery in Zurich,' she wrote. 'Which kindly hosted me as a guest.' Unless you're Freebie Fergie, the clinic charges around £100,000 for a week's treatment. The Who's Pete Townshend is resigned to never replicating bandmate Roger Daltrey's Birthday Honours List gong. Having received a police caution in 2003 for accessing child abuse images while researching, Pete spent five years on the sex offenders register. He reckons: 'The only thing that must be frustrating for those people who distribute gongs up in London, they probably want to give me a knighthood but they can't.' Comic Harry Hill takes issue with Grayson Perry for accepting a knighthood, telling a podcast: 'I tackled Grayson, 'cos when Wordsworth accepted the Poet Laureate post, Robert Browning wrote a poem about it and it starts, "For a handful of silver he left us, just for a ribbon to stick on his coat". In Grayson's case, was it a dress?'
Sky News AU
16-06-2025
- Health
- Sky News AU
'You are not alone': Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, reveals she 'spent time' at Swiss mental health facility
Sarah Ferguson has shared a major health update with her followers on social media and opened up about staying as a "guest" in a Swiss mental health facility. The Duchess of York, 64, has been open about her battles while living in the public eye after marrying and then divorcing Prince Andrew, with whom she shares daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. On Monday, Fergie shared a candid new social media post and accompanying essay in the UK's Telegraph newspaper revealing her mental health struggles and time at a Swiss mental health facility. "Mental health touches us all - it has no boundaries,' she wrote via Instagram on Monday. 'We need to promote open conversations about mental health and how we can improve access to mental healthcare across society. 'I recently spent time at @paracelsusrecovery in Zurich, a clinic known for its discreet, bespoke care for those facing complex mental health and addiction challenges, to learn more." The Duchess of York then recommended people struggling with their mental health to 'seek help' and shared a link to a first-person piece for The Telegraph newspaper. In an extraordinarily frank article, Ferguson opened up about battling eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from her mother Susan abandoning the family when she was a child. Ferguson said her visit was designed to both 'discuss' her personal issues and use her platform as a royal family member to raise awareness about mental health. 'I wasn't there to be diagnosed, but we discussed my own childhood and the profound scars that were left when my mother left the family when I was 12 for a new life in South America,' she said. Ferguson also wrote of her pain after cruel 'tabloid headlines of the 1980s and 1990s' and more recent 'comments on social media (which I regard as a cesspit)'. Recent online abuse, combined with a double cancer diagnosis, ultimately resulted in the Duchess of York seeking professional help. 'All of this inspired my recent visit to Paracelsus Recovery in Zurich, which kindly hosted me as a guest,' she wrote. 'I am not embarrassed to reveal the clinic offered me a sanctuary, renowned as it is for its bespoke, cutting-edge treatment for those grappling with mental health and addiction issues – particularly those whose struggles are often hidden behind the facade of a public role.'
Al Arabiya
05-05-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Global addiction to luxury on the rise, leading mental health clinic says
From designer goods to cosmetic procedures, a silent addiction to luxury is growing, according to leading mental health clinic Paracelsus Recovery. The Zurich-based mental health and addiction clinic has defined a new syndrome it is increasingly seeing in clients addicted to luxury goods as 'opulomania.' Fueled by social media, global brand access, and rapid wealth accumulation, the line between healthy indulgence and psychological compulsion is blurring, Jan Gerber, Founder and CEO of Paracelsus Recovery said in a statement. Young adults, entrepreneurs, influencers, and even traditional family business heirs are increasingly engaging in constant luxury pursuits—from excessive retail therapy and car collections to over-the-top travel and cosmetic procedures—to fill internal voids, he explained. 'Whether clients come to us for trauma, burnout, depression or substance use, a dependency on luxury goods as a measure of self-worth nearly always emerges. This isn't about designer handbags or yachts—it's about an emotional coping mechanism gone unchecked,' Gerber said. Over the last two decades, luxury has transformed from a symbol of rare achievement to a widely marketed aspiration. LVMH, the world's largest luxury conglomerate, is a striking example. In 2005, the company reported revenues of over $15 billion. By 2023, this figure had soared to over $97.4 billion—an increase of more than 500 percent—with its market capitalization surpassing $453 billion. This explosive growth is not just a financial triumph; it reflects a deeper cultural shift in how luxury is perceived and consumed, Gerber said. A growing psychological dependence on brand identity as a source of personal validation is a main driver for that growth, he added. Luxury has shifted from an occasional indulgence to a constant lifestyle aspiration—one often masked as success but deeply entangled with emotional escape. The brain's dopamine system, which evolved to support survival by driving motivation, becomes hijacked by the constant anticipation of luxury. 'Dopamine isn't about pleasure, it's about the chase. The first purchase excites, but soon, it takes more and more just to feel the same. That cycle is classic addiction,' the Paracelsus Recovery CEO and Founder said. This modern-day 'hedonic treadmill' can leave individuals feeling empty, disconnected, and vulnerable to more severe mental health issues, especially when luxury is tied to identity and validation, he noted. 'One of the most dangerous aspects of this behavior, is its social acceptability. We live in a culture where the next purchase is seen as a legitimate path to happiness. But what we're really craving isn't the item—it's the emotional state we hope it will deliver: Safety, admiration, connection.' Countering addiction To counter the lure of luxury as self-worth, Paracelsus Recovery recommends simple yet transformative practices like gratitude check-ins and embodied self-awareness. 'Asking 'How do I feel right now?' or 'What am I grateful for?' starts to rewire the brain toward presence, not pursuit,' Gerber said. The clinic's holistic approach aims to interrupt these patterns by incorporating a blend of neuroscience-based therapies and introspective practices. Clients are guided toward conscious consumption and emotional awareness. 'The goal isn't to reject beauty or craftsmanship,' Gerber said, adding that 'it's about having control over how and why we consume.'
