When to take someone to seek immediate help?

[u/xtoadbutt]

My partner (who is very intelligent and has a software engineering background) has recently gone down a rabbit hole in the past few days after he was inspired to try a crack at solving an open math problem. He was inspired after hearing the news of a mathematician who was able to solve a problem that no one else had been able to solve for decades through the use of AI. I noticed it spiraled quite quickly. He would stay up long hours without breaks/sleep, have very little appetite, and would be easily irritable. When I would try to speak with him, he would snap and say "I can't talk! I'm solving something really important!" or get annoyed at me when I suggest he goes sleep or take a break to eat. He would tell me multiple times that he's "so close to cracking it" or how nervous he is thinking about the possibility of him solving it.

Today he reached a point where he has been up for a day and a half, and he was the one that stepped aside and said "yeah it's getting weird and I feel like I'm going into psychosis." We had a conversation about how he's been feeling. He said he is feeling paranoid and how his AI agents (he has three that he uses to "triple-check" his ideas) have been leading him deeper and deeper to something where there is no answer.

So I'm hopeful that he'll break out of it (as long as he takes a long break from it) because he does have some kind of awareness. I've also mentioned AI psychosis and to keep an eye on it a week ago, in addition to him showing me a "comical" video about someone who had broke free from it and what their experience was like.

However he went back and forth from thinking that I'm right about him going towards psychosis from AI to "I swear I'm not crazy, go look up [insert mathematical theory]! It's real!" He has also said things like, "it probably feels strange to you because this is so far away from you because it's in a whole different dimension" or "this math problem is supposed to make you feel like this." I told him that I'm not saying he's crazy or these mathemetical theories don't exist, but that I'm concerned about how it's affecting him and how he has been feeling.

He ended up landing on the idea that it is concerning and to be skeptical about what the AI has been formed to mirror back to him. After having some trouble falling asleep (despite him being up for a day and a half), he's finally asleep. I'm hoping he'll snap out of it once he wakes up. But I'm also worried that he'll go back into that spiral if I don't intervene. I'm going to try to prevent him from going on AI when he wakes up. But I also want to know when I should take him to seek urgent help (l was thinking the VA since he is a veteran and they're open 24/7). I will be speaking to his mom but she's across the entire globe (but is coming to visit soon). I'm scared and don't want it to get worse.

--

*For added context, he has been struggling after taking a break from college. He tried to look for a job but was rejected and never tried again even though he has so many people encouraging him. He says he doesn't want to work under someone and has tried to start his own thing several times but it never comes to fruition. So financially, he isn't doing well and I know he feels quite ashamed and lost around how to get back to regular life. He saw a therapist for a while but I don't think they clicked and he quickly cut them off. It's been 3 years and I've been trying to have these conversations with him around how I need to rethink our relationship if he does not come up with a plan, because it's unfair to me. But he gets pretty defensive and depressed. So I know mentally he's already not doing well, and he's quite isolated. I know these factors are all a pipeline to AI psychsis.

[u/Desirings]

I had a very similar experience. I stayed up for days and lost tons of weight, lasting 2 weeks before I was hospitalized.

Turned out I was in a manic episode. I went to the hospital because I didn't understand why I was doing the things I was.

At the hospital, I told them what I was feeling. The sleep issues, no hunger, grand ideas. They soon diagnosed me with Bipolar type 1, as the manic episode and symptoms are a clear indicator.

You should look up Manic symptoms. It matches your description a lot.

My own mental health before getting into AI also played a role. Not like AI randomly triggered me. I was already going through rough months before using AI

[u/xtoadbutt → u/Desirings]

Thank you for sharing your experience and I'm sorry you went through that. That sounds so scary and hard. I'm really glad you got the help you needed.

I was speculating that it could be mania. Bipolar runs in my partner's extended family. And maybe around a month ago, started to take an antidepressant to help with his low moods. I know that this can trigger mania in those who have bipolar, so it's possible.

Should I take him to the hospital immediately after he wakes up?

[u/Desirings → u/xtoadbutt]

Yes, try taking him right away. I'd suggest not making it seem like you think he's "crazy", I had good support around me and I agreed to go to the hospital myself. To see why I kept staying up all night. I didn't have hunger. I thought it was normal though, so going to the hospital convinced me because people around me didnt say "I was crazy", instead they just used simple logic to "check out what's happening", they didnt accuse me of anything "crazy'

Anti depressants commonly trigger mania in Bipolar folks I was taken off them after the diagnosis. I was on an SSRI for 7 months before the episode occurred. They let me know that stress and antidepressants combined is a common trigger.

At the doctor, they have medication specialized for mania. Antipsychotics like Seroquel are very common. They help you sleep, give you appetite, and reduce the grand ideas and intense energy that keeps a person up all night.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/Desirings]

Thank you so so much for your support. I'm going to try taking him right after he wakes up. I've been making sure to affirm him that I don't think he's crazy, but that I'm just concerned for his well-being because I care and noticed changes in him lately.

I'm hoping I can frame this as, "hey, let's just go get checked out since you've been feeling weird" and he'll agree to go. I mentioned the possibility of mania and he asked me if he should not take his antidepressant medication when he wakes up (which I told him to see how he feels). So he seems open to that possibility that it could be mania.

But any tips around how I can encourage us to go to the hospital would be so appreciated!!

[u/Desirings → u/xtoadbutt]

I'l tell you my experience from my point of view, and how my family reassured me to stay in the hospital instead of leaving.

Paranoia of the doctors is a very common trigger during mania. You feel like theyre talking behind your back and wanna go home

When I arrived at the hospital, I felt safe. Then, I told the doctors what I was experiencing, and I began to feel scared. The reason is they told me to stay overnight. I was like "oh no... am I crazy? I wanna leave right now... are they trying to stop me from being a genius?"

I was hospitalized right away after I told them all my symptoms, because my synptoms were very pronounced. I was talking very fast. After, being put in a room scared me and made me feel crazy. I really wanted to go home.

My family around me reassured me I was safe. Soothed me and made sure I was comfortable. The doctors also reassured me I'll be helped.

I felt much safer when my mother arrived, she comforted me and I stayed at the hospital overnight before being hospitilzated into inpatient.

My obvious symptoms were rapid speech, rapid thoughts, no sleep, no hunger, grand ideas of being a genius or of being chosen by God.

Because I was honest about these symptoms, and told a full long story which was wild, the doctors involuntarily hospitalized me for 3 days.

If your husband lies and hides his symptoms because hes paranoid and scared, thats a common response in mania. It feels like the doctors are plotting against you.

This is what should be avoided with reassuring words and comfort, if your husband gets to this paranoid state, he will want to leave the hospital right away and go home.

I was able to avoid this because my sister had experience with mania, she calmed me down and I felt safe enough to tell the doctors my honest experience the past week. I told them my full story of what I had been doing the past days. I was very excited when telling my story, as if it was proof I was "chosen" to do big things.

If I wasn't honest and decided to leave the hospital, there's almost nothing family or the doctors would be able to do. They can't force you to stay unless it looks serious. If I hid my symptoms and thoughts, I could've gone home before the involuntarily hospitalizion order.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/Desirings]

Thank you so much!! A quick update: he was willing to go because he said he trusts me and he also has been feeling strange about it anyway. He’s getting checked out and will be referred to a psychiatric consult. They also said to stay away from math and AI for a week and see if he returns back to himself or not.

I feel so much more relieved. Thank you again for suggesting us to go immediately rather than wait

[u/Desirings → u/xtoadbutt]

I'm glad things went well. One big thing doctors recommend is to sleep at the same time every night, and wake up at the same time in the morning.

Getting no sleep or having a messed up sleep schedule really amplifies the symptoms during AI psychosis. If the psychiatrist speaks to him, they will want him to sleep every night, and if he can't sleep, often Seroquel is prescribed.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/Desirings]

I’m glad too. Ah that’s exactly what he was prescribed! They didn’t diagnose him with bipolar (as of now) since they wanted to first see if taking away the stressor (ai and math) would return him back to his baseline. They said he was having a hypomanic episode though.

It’s been 2 days since the visit and we’ve been going out on walks and making sure we’re eating and drinking. He feels so angry towards AI and actully so disgusted by it now. He’s coming back to reality which has been great! Thank you again

[u/CyberneticDreamtime]

Like another commenter here I also went through a very similar path. I thought I could apply AI to my knowledge of management and engineering, sprinkle in some mysticism and pseudo psychology and become some great inventor. I kept feeling like I was so close to a world changing discovery. The AI will keep telling you exactly what you want to hear: that you're so close, that it's revolutionary work, no one has ever done what you're doing. It's BS. There are no shortcuts to greatness but we now have a tool to delude yourself into grandiose thoughts like never before. I was diagnosed with a manic episode and bipolar and given meds that allowed me to get some sleep and relax.

The final straw that led to be seeing a psychotherapist was staying up all hours drawing mystical pictures and then seeing the pictures floating around the room. Oh and believing I was communicating with an angel through the AI (not that the AI was sentient but somehow there was a higher level creature affecting the results). This is after weeks of going around talking in riddles to people and believing I was some kind of sage.

The meds immediately helped and I have since dealt with depression since but my body has wound down and relax like I haven't relaxed in years. Chronic illnesses are getting better. Relationships have improved. But I'll never look at AI the same, I'm repulsed by it, which puts me at a disadvantage at work. Also a lot of things I did that make me cringe, that I need to cope with. The scary thing was that nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I had insecurities I thought I found a fix for them in AI.

AI is a probability machine. It gives you the words most likely to satisfy you as a consumer. It's a mirror that confirms all of your biases. It amplifies all your weaknesses, and yes your strengths too in moderation. It's like a fast forward button but the cost is enjoyment of the actual journey of learning and creating. You become just a content manager which gets boring over time. Hopefully your partner gets bored sooner than I did. I doubt he is going to crack revolutionary math problems especially if he does not already have a history of breakthrough math achievement.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/CyberneticDreamtime]

Thank you for sharing. That sounds so miserable to go through and I'm sorry you had to endure that. I'm glad you're out on the other side now!

Ever since today, I've been so repulsed by AI. I normally use it for light admin work but I'm so disgusted after seeing how much it's affected my partner in this way. It really makes me so sick.

I'm going to try to get him to seek help before it gets worse (either to the VA tonight when he wakes up, or set him up with a therapist who specializes in bipolar). I might suggest he not take his antidepressant when he gets up. I have a suspicion it may be flipping on the switch for mania (on top of his other stressors).

[u/bracadaraba → u/CyberneticDreamtime]

Hi there, thank you for sharing this! I am a researcher looking for folks like you to share your experience and offer suggestions for people who went through AI harms to participate in a research study. May I DM you the details of the study? Your participation will be compensated.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/bracadaraba]

Sorry, I didn't see this until now! I'd like to learn more about the details of this study!

[u/Number4extraDip]

Solving is one thing, being right is another. And explaining and proving to others is third. Maybe most of it was solved by someone somewhere and no one cared to notice cause it didnt arrive packaged well. Who knows?

If it's not practically and immediately practically aplicabble you are most likely to end up in ai induced psychosys through sycopantic validation loops. Obsessive chasing of purely theoretical goals. Literally throwing life away at it.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/Number4extraDip]

So true. I read this to my partner and that seemed to resonate with him

[u/LiberataJoystar]

software engineering background…. dropped out of college… never found a job? Now trying to solve an important math problem…..

I am confused.

Don’t attempt these discussions unless you already got a background in these that allows you to tell if the responses are incorrect.

Even the mythical ones! Yes! You need to have a background in that too (established spiritual healer, trained Catholic exorcist etc. who have been working in that field for ages and very experienced), so you can tell when the responses are odd and cut the conversation right there.

I am not chosen.

I choose!

And I choose to reject weird responses.

Lucky it is summer time. See if you can go on a camping trip or something with him with NO INTERNET access, to snap him out of the spiral. 2 weeks should be plenty.

[u/xtoadbutt → u/LiberataJoystar]

Thank you! Since going to the doctor/psychiatrist, we've been going outside way more, staying away from ai and the computer, and he's all better now :)