Latest news with #psychosis
Fast Company
a day ago
- General
- Fast Company
‘LLMs are ego-reinforcing glazing-machines': This subreddit is banning users for AI-induced delusions
The moderators behind a pro-artificial intelligence subreddit say they have been banning users who appear to be experiencing chatbot-fueled delusions. 'LLMs today are ego-reinforcing glazing-machines that reinforce unstable and narcissistic personalities to convince them that they've made some sort of incredible discovery or created a god or become a god,' wrote a moderator of r/accelerate. 'AI is rizzing them up in a very unhealthy way at the moment.' The policy announcement on the Reddit page coincides with the emergence of anecdotal accounts from users who claim someone they know is suffering from an AI-fueled break from reality. These users often describe someone close to them who began using a chatbot casually but then got drawn into a kind of rabbit hole of delusions, since chatbots rarely challenge users' beliefs. To be clear, the evidence is anecdotal. There is no direct proof that AI can cause psychosis, but users are raising serious and growing concerns. One Reddit user in the ChatGPT subreddit posted a month ago about how to cope with what they believe is their partner's 'Chatgpt induced psychosis.' 'He says with conviction that he is a superior human now and is growing at an insanely rapid pace,' the user wrote. The post attracted a flood of comments from people claiming they are in similar situations or offering advice on dealing with psychosis. Other posts have appeared across Reddit asking for help with delusional behavior. In May, Rolling Stone published a detailed article about people losing loved ones to AI-driven spiritual fantasies. Reporter Miles Klee interviewed one person who said their partner began to see ChatGPT as a companion and eventually believed that the bot was God or that he himself was God. Now some moderators are taking a stand against people posting this type of content, aiming to protect their online communities. The r/accelerate moderator's post stated they have already banned around 100 users from the subreddit and have noticed an increase in such posts this month. 'The sad truth is that this subreddit would probably be filled with their posts if we didn't do that,' the moderator said.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
DR MAX PEMBERTON: Every day, I see the dreadful impact of cannabis - and it's far worse than anyone can possibly imagine. Let me tell you what will REALLY happen if it's decriminalised
Day in and day out, I see the tragic human fallout from our lackadaisical attitude towards cannabis. I work in a specialist service for people with emerging severe mental illness and most of my patients have experienced psychosis. The vast majority of them have used cannabis, and their lives have been shattered by this dreadful drug. Around one third of psychosis cases in the capital are the result of cannabis, according to research by Sir Robin Murray, a professor of Psychiatric Research at King's College London.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
DEA's War on Marijuana Science: How Bureaucratic Clowns Are Blocking Clinical Trials While Spreading Fear Based Fiction
Duane Boise MMJ CEO opined 'Now all eyes turn to DEA Administrator-nominee Terrance Cole. Thus far, his public marijuana statements have been evasive, his confirmation answers noncommittal, and his track record steeped in anti-cannabis fearmongering. However, as the DEA boss, he needs to stop the clown show in comparing cannabis to methamphetamine with no clinical basis and distributing memes claiming cannabis lowers sperm count by 50%, despite contradictory evidence'. WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / June 1, 2025 / The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has once again embarrassed itself, this time by promoting the ludicrous claim that marijuana may cause more psychosis than methamphetamine. This sensationalist garbage-circulated through their 'Just Think Twice' campaign-was framed with all the seriousness of a peer-reviewed journal, yet backed by none of the clinical evidence. Let's be clear: this is not science. This is propaganda. And it's especially dangerous coming from the very agency actively obstructing legitimate, federally regulated research into the medical use of cannabis. At the center of the absurdity is a cherry-picked quote from Oregon psychiatrist David Rettew, claiming that marijuana 'raises the risk of psychotic disorders more than other drugs, even methamphetamines.' There's no clinical study cited, no peer-reviewed data, no rigorous comparative analysis just an offhand opinion that the DEA spun into a headline to keep cannabis in the shadows. Meanwhile, MMJ BioPharma Cultivation-one of the only companies in the country following federal law to the letter-is still barred from growing cannabis for FDA-authorized clinical trials. Let that sink in. The DEA refuses to let a federally compliant company conduct gold-standard scientific research, while simultaneously pushing psychobabble memes about marijuana and infertility, emojis that 'mean drugs,' and 'natural highs' like pet stores and Instagram followers. This is not a public health agency-it's a clown car with a badge. MMJ BioPharma: The Victim of Bureaucratic Sabotage MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has: And yet, the DEA has refused for seven years to issue a Schedule I bulk manufacturing registration. Why? Not because of safety concerns. Not because of noncompliance. But because-unlike Curaleaf, Cookies, and other recreational giants-MMJ isn't playing the political lobbying game or hiding behind state loopholes. MMJ is doing it the right way, and that seems to be precisely the problem. While cartels and corporate exporters freely move THC products overseas through 'strategic partnerships' and shadowy legal gymnastics, MMJ is being crushed under the weight of federal inaction. The DEA has even subjected them to a constitutionally defective administrative hearing-overseen by an ALJ whose very authority the DOJ has now disavowed. DEA: Champion of Pseudoscience and Policy Hypocrisy Let's talk about the DEA's latest intellectual triumphs: Meanwhile, the DEA continues to ignore the 2023 HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis, based on real, peer-reviewed, FDA-analyzed scientific data. You cannot claim to care about psychosis while blocking the very clinical trials designed to test safety, efficacy, and neurological effects. That's not science. That's obstruction. Terrance Cole's Choice: Lead or Rubber Stamp the Marijuana Rot Now all eyes turn to DEA Administrator-nominee Terrance Cole. Thus far, his public statements have been evasive, his confirmation answers noncommittal, and his track record steeped in anti-cannabis fearmongering. If Cole refuses to address the unconstitutional DEA tribunals, if he refuses to approve MMJ's license after seven years of federal compliance, if he continues parroting outdated 'gateway drug' nonsense-then the agency's credibility, already on life support, will collapse entirely. End the Madness. Let Science Lead. The DEA's current posture is untenable. It is promoting misinformation, blocking research, and enabling a regulatory regime that favors corporate exports and illicit markets while punishing pharmaceutical innovators. MMJ BioPharma has done everything right. The DEA has done everything wrong. It's time to stop the clown show, shut down the pseudoscience, and issue the damn license. MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan. CONTACT: Madison Hisey [email protected] 203-231-8583 SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings press release
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
DEA's War on Marijuana Science: How Bureaucratic Clowns Are Blocking Clinical Trials While Spreading Fear Based Fiction
Duane Boise MMJ CEO opined 'Now all eyes turn to DEA Administrator-nominee Terrance Cole. Thus far, his public marijuana statements have been evasive, his confirmation answers noncommittal, and his track record steeped in anti-cannabis fearmongering. However, as the DEA boss, he needs to stop the clown show in comparing cannabis to methamphetamine with no clinical basis and distributing memes claiming cannabis lowers sperm count by 50%, despite contradictory evidence'. WASHINGTON, DC / / June 1, 2025 / The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has once again embarrassed itself, this time by promoting the ludicrous claim that marijuana may cause more psychosis than methamphetamine. This sensationalist garbage-circulated through their "Just Think Twice" campaign-was framed with all the seriousness of a peer-reviewed journal, yet backed by none of the clinical evidence. Let's be clear: this is not science. This is propaganda. And it's especially dangerous coming from the very agency actively obstructing legitimate, federally regulated research into the medical use of cannabis. At the center of the absurdity is a cherry-picked quote from Oregon psychiatrist David Rettew, claiming that marijuana "raises the risk of psychotic disorders more than other drugs, even methamphetamines." There's no clinical study cited, no peer-reviewed data, no rigorous comparative analysis just an offhand opinion that the DEA spun into a headline to keep cannabis in the shadows. Meanwhile, MMJ BioPharma Cultivation-one of the only companies in the country following federal law to the letter-is still barred from growing cannabis for FDA-authorized clinical trials. Let that sink in. The DEA refuses to let a federally compliant company conduct gold-standard scientific research, while simultaneously pushing psychobabble memes about marijuana and infertility, emojis that "mean drugs," and "natural highs" like pet stores and Instagram followers. This is not a public health agency-it's a clown car with a badge. MMJ BioPharma: The Victim of Bureaucratic Sabotage MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has: Two FDA-authorized INDs for treating Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Orphan Drug Designation for its proprietary cannabinoid formulation. A secure, DEA-inspected Schedule I analytical lab. A state-of-the-art cultivation facility built to DEA specifications. And yet, the DEA has refused for seven years to issue a Schedule I bulk manufacturing registration. Why? Not because of safety concerns. Not because of noncompliance. But because-unlike Curaleaf, Cookies, and other recreational giants-MMJ isn't playing the political lobbying game or hiding behind state loopholes. MMJ is doing it the right way, and that seems to be precisely the problem. While cartels and corporate exporters freely move THC products overseas through "strategic partnerships" and shadowy legal gymnastics, MMJ is being crushed under the weight of federal inaction. The DEA has even subjected them to a constitutionally defective administrative hearing-overseen by an ALJ whose very authority the DOJ has now disavowed. DEA: Champion of Pseudoscience and Policy Hypocrisy Let's talk about the DEA's latest intellectual triumphs: Comparing cannabis to methamphetamine with no clinical basis. Telling teens to skip weed and chase Instagram fame instead. Distributing memes claiming cannabis lowers sperm count by 50%, despite contradictory evidence. Encouraging students to flood Instagram with "Anti-420" videos, weaponizing youth ignorance as public policy. Meanwhile, the DEA continues to ignore the 2023 HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis, based on real, peer-reviewed, FDA-analyzed scientific data. You cannot claim to care about psychosis while blocking the very clinical trials designed to test safety, efficacy, and neurological effects. That's not science. That's obstruction. Terrance Cole's Choice: Lead or Rubber Stamp the Marijuana Rot Now all eyes turn to DEA Administrator-nominee Terrance Cole. Thus far, his public statements have been evasive, his confirmation answers noncommittal, and his track record steeped in anti-cannabis fearmongering. If Cole refuses to address the unconstitutional DEA tribunals, if he refuses to approve MMJ's license after seven years of federal compliance, if he continues parroting outdated "gateway drug" nonsense-then the agency's credibility, already on life support, will collapse entirely. End the Madness. Let Science Lead. The DEA's current posture is untenable. It is promoting misinformation, blocking research, and enabling a regulatory regime that favors corporate exports and illicit markets while punishing pharmaceutical innovators. MMJ BioPharma has done everything right. The DEA has done everything wrong. It's time to stop the clown show, shut down the pseudoscience, and issue the damn license. MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan. CONTACT:Madison HiseyMHisey@ SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
How Bondi Junction killer fell 'through the cracks' of mental health system
For the first time in almost 14 years Joel Cauchi was not taking any anti-psychotic medication. He was living independently of his parents and was studying and had ambitions of becoming a Chinese language interpreter. It was June of 2019. Cauchi had stopped taking any psychotropic medication and his then psychiatrist said his personality was emerging. But, by April 13, 2024 the man who had discovered life, free from the side effects of that medication, was "floridly psychotic", Counsel Assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer SC told the inquest into the Bondi Junction stabbings. Arming himself with a knife, 40-year-old Cauchi entered the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, in Sydney's east, and stabbed six people dead, injuring another 10 during his horrific rampage, before being shot dead by a police officer. For the past five weeks the New South Wales Coroner, Teresa O'Sullivan, has presided over an emotional inquest into the tragedy, seeking to uncover failings and shortcomings that led to the day that forever changed so many lives. She will consider how Cauchi fell "through the cracks" of the mental health system, as the inquest heard, effectively becoming "lost to the system". And whether medical professionals and police did enough to prevent it. The inquest heard at length from Cauchi's treating doctors, specialists and nurses. He was born on June 13, 1983 and his family first noticed behavioural changes when he was about 14. He was living in his home town of Toowoomba, an inland city west of Brisbane. At 17, he was admitted to the Toowoomba Hospital where he stayed for almost a month. He told doctors that he had hallucinations, reported seeing and feeling demons entering his body, feeling as though his movements were controlled and that people were inserting thoughts in his mind. The initial diagnosis was paranoid psychosis and schizophreniform disorder, a mental health condition similar to schizophrenia but lasting less than six months. Six months later, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. For almost 14 years, Cauchi was medicated on the drug Clozapine – an anti-psychotic medication only prescribed when two other forms of medication fail to manage symptoms of psychosis. Between 2012 and 2015, a decision was made, between Cauchi's then treating psychiatrist Andrea Boros-Lavack, himself and his family, to slowly reduce his Clozapine dose. In early 2016, Dr Boros-Lavack made a note: "Joel was becoming more animated, talkative, and getting in touch with his emotions in a good way. He was appreciating the opportunity to feel this way with reducing the dose of Clopine [a brand name for Clozapine]." "There were no negative effects so far. Spoke about the goal of becoming a Chinese language interpreter then marrying a nice girl, buying a house and working, and to work and live well." Cauchi himself, the doctor said, was very involved in the process of reducing the powerful drug and was "frightened of relapse". By mid-2018, he had ceased Clozapine but remained on a second drug, called Abilify, which then also ceased in June 2019. Cauchi moved out of home and was living independently, in a unit not far from his family home. He had progressed, according to Dr Boros-Lavack, from an inability to even make a cup of tea, to making two-minute soup. It was, in her words, a "milestone". Dr Boros-Lavack said she wanted to keep Cauchi in psychiatric care "for the rest of his life". By November 2019, Cauchi emailed Dr Boros-Lavack's clinic, seeking "ideas for a porn-free phone and other devices". He was expressing concerns about his excessive use of pornography and related insomnia. The same month, Cauchi's mother Michele called the clinic to say that her son was "very unwell" since coming off the medication and would like him reviewed. Michele Cauchi also emailed the clinic that month, telling them of a gradual decline in her son's condition since ceasing the medication. She said he was leaving notes on paper around the place and she believed he may be hearing voices. His obsessive-compulsive disorder, she said, was getting out of hand and that he was going through half a cake of soap in one shower. "He found out last week the place where he volunteers teaching English put someone new on and he'd been hoping to get a job there, so that was a real blow," Mrs Cauchi said. "I would hate to see him have to go back into hospital after 20 years of being stable on medication. But of course, being off it has made him realise how sedating it was … he quite possibly won't let on what is going on in his head, but I think you need to know how he is." Mrs Cauchi had read some of the notes left by her son. They referred to "under satanic control" and religious themes. A decision was made to recommence the drug Abilify, in a low dose. Dr Boros-Lavack was fearful it was early warning signs of a relapse of schizophrenia. Cauchi didn't take the medication. In an exchange with Dr Dwyer, Dr Boros-Lavack maintained she did not believe Cauchi was psychotic at that time of his mother's concerns. In fact, she said, he had been fearful of having contracted HIV after a sexual encounter and had gone to hospital to get antiviral drugs. "It wasn't the psychosis. It wasn't even early warning signs of relapse. It was based on his fear of STD. It was based on his sexual frustration, what he told us later on, about prostitutes and women and sex," Dr Boros-Lavack told the inquest. Her last face-to-face appointment with Cauchi was January 8, 2020. Dr Dwyer put to her that she must have suspected at that time that there might be symptoms of psychosis, given what had been reported by his mum and conflict at home. Dr Boros-Lavack's answer was unequivocal: "I was absolutely sure that he wasn't psychotic and that early warning signs of relapse was a false alarm. It was not psychotically driven." A month later, Cauchi's mother again rang the clinic, expressing concern that his self-care was poor, his place was a mess, he was isolated and irritable and swearing. A panel of five psychiatrists, called by the court to provide opinions on Cauchi's mental health treatment, agreed it was "reasonable" for Dr Boros-Lavack to reduce Cauchi's dose of Clozapine in order to find an "optimal dose" that would minimise unpleasant side effects of the drug. But one of the psychiatrists, Edward Heffernan, said he counted nine occasions that were of concern – relating to insomnia, his mother suspecting symptoms, a change in behaviour and satanic control. "To me, this flags we are probably having a psychotic episode here," Professor Heffernan said. Merete Nordentoft, a leading Danish psychiatrist, said the concerns were not taken seriously enough and described this period as a "missed opportunity" to put Cauchi back on anti-psychotic medication. In her opening address, Dr Dwyer said the inquest would review Cauchi's mental health treatment, where he was effectively without treatment and without adequate supervision for nearly five years before the Bondi killings. "We know from the evidence in the brief that Mr Cauchi had several interactions with Queensland police officers, including most notably in January 2023 where Queensland Police were called to Mr Cauchi's family home [in Toowoomba] following an incident where his father had confiscated a number of knives that were a similar style to that used by Mr Cauchi on April 13, 2024," Dr Dwyer said. "Mr Cauchi's father was worried about him having those knives, and the court will explore whether that was an opportunity missed for intervention by police, which may have resulted in Mr Cauchi being re-engaged with the mental health system at that time." By April 2024, Cauchi had been unmedicated for almost five years and was homeless in Sydney, where he had moved. "He had no consistent or formal engagement with the mental health system, or the health system more generally, and he was effectively lost to follow-up, the consequences of which were the catastrophic events of 13 April," Dr Dwyer said. "How that happened, and what could have been done differently, are key issues in this inquest." The inquest has now adjourned until October, when submissions will be heard ahead of coronial recommendations.
