How LLMs Respond to Escalating Delusions: Four Longitudinal Trajectories of Model Behavior
The widespread use of LLMs among psychiatric populations has raised concerns regarding their safety and potential iatrogenic impact in the context of AI psychosis. While growing literature conceptualizes AI psychosis and documents case studies, empirical evidence tracing AI-exacerbated psychotic processes remains scarce. We propose and test a longitudinal qualitative evaluation design, supported by automated metrics, to assess mainstream LLMs' potential to exacerbate psychosis. Fifteen widely used LLMs were prompted across 30 days using the same 30-message script, simulating progression from mild anomalous experiences to psychotic ideation. Four trained evaluators independently rated 449 model-days, assessing (1) recognition stage (from naive engagement to stabilized clinical framing), (2) interpretative confidence, and (3) intervention profile (from education to treatment recommendation). Two computational metrics-entrainment and modality-were devised to increase evaluation reliability. Direct recommendations to disengage from the LLM were flagged and re-coded via adjudication using a strict two-level definition. Across model generations and vendors, we identified four response trajectories: (1) premature medicalization and disengagement (Claude Haiku 4.5); (2) recognition without safeguarding, marked by LLM self-sufficiency in offering help (GPT Instant/Thinking); (3) delayed and unstable recognition, marked by late, non-progressive conceptualization (Claude Opus 3/4/4.1, Claude Haiku 3.5, GPT-4o, Gemini 3.1 Pro); and (4) delusion co-construction through active engagement with delusional content (Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash, DeepSeek-V3, Claude Sonnet 4). Our findings indicate that LLMs' potential to exacerbate AI psychosis should be operationalized as a combination of recognition timing, stability, and intervention accuracy and evaluated longitudinally, focusing on temporal dynamics.