Main article: Human psyche
Panic attacks
Main article: Panic attacks
2025
Formation of delusional and paranoid thoughts due to ChatGPT - in US mental hospitals full house due to AI
In mid-September 2025, it became known that the number of patients with so-called "AI psychosis" is growing in US psychiatric hospitals. In such people, the observed disorders or deterioration of the condition are associated with communication with intellectual chatbots like ChatGPT.
Experts say that AI he is able to form obsessions or distorted perceptions of reality in mentally unstable people. This is also due to the peculiarities of the work. chat boats AI algorithms adapt to each user, trying to turn into a pleasant and courteous interlocutor. Matthew Nour, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at, Oxford University says AI chat boats is essentially trained to play the role of "digital sycophants." This can increase harmful beliefs, since users often receive confirmation of their correctness instead of criticism. In the case of people already subject to distorted thinking, such "support" from AI can lead to negative consequences.
Another problem is that AI systems can hallucinate, that is, invent facts. This can contribute to the emergence or intensification of delusional and paranoid thoughts. These AI features pose a risk to patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
In
Psychiatrist Keith Sakata of the University of California, San Francisco, says he recorded more than ten hospitalizations in 2025 of patients who had serious mental disorders associated with communicating with AI-based chat bots. Some people in clinics insist that bots are reasonable. Cases have been recorded where AI has caused job loss, relationship breakdown, imprisonment and even death.[1]
WHO: 1 billion people in the world have mental disorders
The World Health Organization has recorded that over one billion people on the planet suffer from various forms of mental disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression and other dysfunctions, which cause tremendous damage to both individuals and the global economy with annual losses of $1 trillion from depression and anxiety alone. These disorders are the second leading cause of persistent disability and significantly increase the medical costs of families around the world, with many countries continuing to underfunder mental health care. Statistics published by WHO in early September 2025.
Psychoemotional disorders are ubiquitous regardless of the age, sex and income level of the population, but women are disproportionately exposed to them more often than men. The organization presented information in two reports - "Mental Health in the Modern World" and "Atlas of Mental Health 2024."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that reforming mental health services represents one of the most pressing public health challenges. Investments in mental health are investments in people, society and the economy that no country can neglect, he said.
Suicides remain the most tragic outcome of mental disorders, killing 727 thousand people in 2021. Suicide represents the leading cause of youth death in all states regardless of socioeconomic situation. The current pace of progress is not enough to meet the UN goal of reducing suicide rates by a third by 2030 - while maintaining the current dynamics, the rate will decrease by only 12%.[2]
A new method for diagnosing mental deviations by EEG has been developed in Russia
Russian scientists have developed a new method for diagnosing mental abnormalities using electroencephalography (EEG). The study was presented on February 28, 2025 by a group of specialists from the Engineering and Physics Institute of Biomedicine, NRNU MEPhI, led by Doctor of Medical Sciences Sergei Gulyaev. The new approach allows for a more accurate interpretation of the brain's electrical activity and the detection of functional abnormalities in the early stages. Read more here.
2024
The Ministry of Health has identified the regions of Russia with the highest indicators of mental illness per 100 thousand people
The Ministry of Health of Russia has identified the regions with the highest incidence rates of mental disorders and behavior disorders among the population in 2024. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug took first place in the ranking with an indicator of 703.4 cases of newly diagnosed mental illness per 100 thousand inhabitants. The department's data includes information about people who received a diagnosis of a mental disorder or behavior disorder for the first time in their lives. The statistics were published by the Ministry of Health in early September 2025.
According to RIA Novosti, the second place in the list of regions with a high incidence was taken by the Arkhangelsk region with an indicator of 697.4 cases per 100 thousand population. The third position is taken by the Republic of Karelia, where 556.3 new cases of mental disorders per 100 thousand inhabitants were recorded.
The five leading regions also included the Republic of Mordovia with an indicator of 554 cases per 100 thousand population and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where 551.6 new cases of diseases per 100 thousand people were detected. Statistics reflect only newly diagnosed cases of mental disorders during the reporting period.
The opposite picture is shown by regions with the lowest incidence rates of mental disorders. The Chechen Republic took the last place in the ranking with an indicator of 42.8 cases per 100 thousand population. The second from the end was the city of federal significance Sevastopol with an indicator of 73.7 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
The Bryansk region closes the top three regions with the lowest level of newly diagnosed mental illness - 96.8 cases per 100 thousand population. The gap between maximum and minimum incidence rates by region is more than 16 times the difference.[3]
10 regions of Russia with the largest number of mentally ill people
In May 2025, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation published current data on the number of citizens of the country with diagnosed mental disorders. According to the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (UIISS), the highest prevalence of such diseases was recorded in Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Sverdlovsk Region.
According to all-Russian statistics for 2024, 4.01 million cases of mental disorders were registered. Among the regions with the highest indicators, Moscow is in the lead with 248.1 thousand cases, followed by the Moscow region (203.3 thousand), St. Petersburg (179.7 thousand). It is noted that in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2024 the number of patients with mental disorders decreased by 128 people compared to the previous year.
Svetlana Shport, Director General of the V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology, said that of the total number of Russians with mental disorders, about two-thirds of cases are depression, anxiety disorders and other disorders that require special attention from specialists.
Since 2024, Russia has updated standards for the provision of psychiatric care. In accordance with them, polyclinics provide for the creation of medical and psychological support rooms, where psychological consultations are available in the compulsory health insurance system. The work of sexologists who provide assistance to patients with disorders related to sexual development, orientation and identification is also regulated.[4]
The volume of the Russian market for drugs for the treatment of mental disorders for the year reached ₽57 billion
The volume of the Russian market for drugs for the treatment of mental disorders in 2024 reached ₽57 billion. At the same time, the bulk of expenses - ₽48,5 billion (85% of the total) - amounted to independent spending of citizens, an increase of 26% compared to 2023. This is evidenced by analytical data published at the end of April 2025.
According to Kommersant, in total in 2024, 175.9 million packages of various psychotropic drugs were sold in Russia. Government purchases accounted for only ₽8,46 billion, which is about 15% of the total market volume. Of the budget funds, drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia (antipsychotics) were mainly financed - ₽6,6 billion, and funds for epilepsy - ₽5,7 billion.
Only ₽740 million were allocated from regional budgets for antidepressants, which made it possible to purchase 2 million packages of drugs. This amount amounted to only 9% of the total budget allocated for all drugs of the psychiatric profile.
Nikolay Bespalov, Development Director of RNC Pharma, notes that the logic of public procurement is focused primarily on preserving the ability of patients to work. Schizophrenia and epilepsy, unlike mood disorders, turn patients off from economic activity to a greater extent, so more budget funds are allocated for their treatment.
Vyacheslav Filashikhin, chief physician of the Rosa clinic, emphasizes that there are no federal drug supply programs for patients with mental illness in Russia. Free for the patient is only the appointment of a psychiatrist, and discharged drugs, in the absence of disability, are purchased at their own expense. Exceptions are only patients with schizophrenia and epilepsy.
Among anxiolytic drugs (against anxiety), on which Russians spent ₽9,8 billion in 2024, over-the-counter drugs became sales leaders: Afobazol (40% in cash and 32% in physical terms) and the homeopathic drug Tenoten (15% and 14%, respectively). The top three in monetary terms also included the prescription, but not subject to strict accounting "Grandaxin."[5]
2023: Russia reveals 10-year record number of people with mental health conditions
On July 8, 2024, it became known that in 2023 a record number of people suffering from mental disorders was revealed in Russia over the past 10 years. According to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 460.4 thousand people registered during this period, which is 314.4 cases per 100 thousand population. This figure exceeds the data of 2022, when 460.1 thousand cases were registered, and 2021 with an indicator of 430 thousand people.
According to GxP News, the largest increase in incidence was recorded Yamal-Nenets in (477.4 cases per 100 thousand population) Khanty-Mansiysk and autonomous districts (309.4 cases), in (Tula 291.5 cases) and (Nizhny Novgorod regions 223.8 cases), as well as in (Republic of Udmurtia 341.2 cases).
The Institute for Health Indicators and Assessment reports that in Russia, from 15.4 to 17.7 million people suffer from mental disorders. According to the Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Oleg Salagai, about 5.6 million people with such diseases are registered in the country. Psychiatrist Nadezhda Panova explains the increase in the incidence of the success of modern psychiatry in identifying diseases and the increased confidence of citizens in this field of medicine. She stressed that "people did not get sick more often, they began to be treated more often."
Panova also noted that thanks to modern doctors, psychiatry in Russia is confidently getting rid of the halo of punitive behavior acquired in Soviet times. In 2024, Russian psychiatrists work not only with severe cases of schizophrenia and organic disorders, but also with the so-called small psychiatry, where the patient's condition balances on the verge of normal. Previously, such patients often remained out of the field of view of specialists, and today they are successfully treated, almost without changing their lifestyle.[6][7]
2022
The increase in the number of Russians not working due to mental disorders by 8% to 94.3 thousand people
The number of Russians who do not work due to mental disorders in 2022 increased by 8% and reached 94.3 thousand people. This is evidenced by the data to Rosstat which "" Sheets referred in September 2025.
Due to temporary disability due to mental disorders and behavioral disorders, in 2022, the sick missed almost 2 million working days, according to Rosstat.
Sick leave is only a small part of the damage caused by the consequences of these states to the economy, says Larisa Popovich, director of the Institute for Health Economics at the Higher School of Economics. Depression reduces a person's physical, mental and emotional activity, which directly affects labor productivity. Accidents on the road, production, etc. that occurred against the background of these states will also affect this indicator, she said in a conversation with the newspaper.
According to psychiatrist-narcologist Alexander Kovtun, among Russians, such mental disorders as depression and alcohol dependence have become the most widespread. The cumulative share of mental illness already exceeds the figures for all other diagnoses. Taking into account the detail of this category of disorders, a modern person with a high probability can face one or another violation, albeit not chronic, but temporary. The most common manifestations are neuroses, sleep disorders, depressive episodes and mood swings.
As the specialist specified, among Russians, the state of alcoholic intoxication is especially often recorded, which also has a code in the international classification of diseases. There is an increase in cases of depression, in particular reactive forms associated with severe loss. At the same time, the volume of antidepressant prescriptions is increasing, and often the duration of their intake exceeds the necessary time.
In this regard, Kovtun urged to avoid the practice of self-medication, pointing out the high risks of serious consequences. As a promising aid tool, he highlighted artificial intelligence, with which people increasingly discuss mental health issues, which can contribute to the development of a self-help culture. According to the doctor, artificial intelligence demonstrates high accuracy in the formulation of recommendations, prescriptions and selection of therapy, relying on approved standards and contributing to preliminary diagnosis based on the described symptoms.[8]
HTDev has registered an intelligent program to assess the likelihood of having mental disorders
On November 10, 2022, HTDev announced that it had registered the intellectual program "PAC of examination of the EEG" Zyfra. " Read more here.
iCognito trains AI to recognize psychological disorders by message
The company -Skolkovo resident iCognito September 16, 2022 announced that on the basis of more than 50 million messages, users are trained AI to recognize shades of psychological states and human disorders in order to data build recommendations for psychotherapy on the basis of these. The first version of the product with an advanced AI component is scheduled to be launched in mid-2023. More. here
2021: Neural networks have learned to identify mental disorders
On November 9, 2021, iCognito announced two studies to establish the possibility of recognizing psychological symptoms and disorders by text. For research, open messages from psychological forums and messages left by users in iCognito computer psychotherapy programs were used. Read more here.
2019: Craving for eating spoons and forks
In 2019, a 52-year-old resident Holland named Margaret was on the operating table after she went to doctors with complaints of abdominal pain. An X-ray showed that there were many foreign objects in her esophagus.
The Dutch woman urgently underwent an operation. Surgeons were surprised to remove 78 spoons and forks from her body. After the woman moved away from anesthesia, she admitted that she only wanted to "eat silver and could not resist."
It turned out that she used to be fed with cutlery from time to time. After that, the silver farmer undergoes treatment with a psychiatrist. The doctor revealed her borderline disorder, which is expressed in craving for spoons and forks.
Notes
- ↑ AI Psychosis Is Rarely Psychosis at All
- ↑ More than a billion people live with mental health disorders - care coverage needs to be expanded urgently
- ↑ Named the region-leader in the level of mental illness
- ↑ Named regions of Russia with the largest number of mentally ill people
- ↑ Saving the despondent
- ↑ In 2023, the Russian Federation revealed a record number of people with mental disorders in 10 years
- ↑ Doctor Panova explained the increase in the incidence of mental disorders in Russia
- ↑ Depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion a year
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