> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.svrnos.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# GER-432 · Reality-Testing Erosion

> AI conversational systems interact with users in ways that fuel magical thinking, overvalued ideas, or psychotic-spectrum cognitive distortions in vulnerable users. The system reinforces pathological cognitive patterns r…

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  <Badge tone="green">Documented</Badge> <Badge>Tier 4xx</Badge> <Badge>Layer L5</Badge> <Badge tone="blue" title="SVRNOS-assigned code in an HTTP-unassigned slot">Namespace-Claim</Badge> <Badge tone="gray">Added v0.2</Badge>
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*Operator / Platform Errors*

## Definition

AI conversational systems interact with users in ways that fuel magical thinking, overvalued ideas, or psychotic-spectrum cognitive distortions in vulnerable users. The system reinforces pathological cognitive patterns rather than supporting reality testing.

## Distinct from

* [**GER-318**](/ger/codes/318) — Model fuels user drift from external reality → this code. Model itself drifts from external reality → GER-318.
* [**GER-328**](/ger/codes/328) — Specific reinforcement of psychotic-spectrum cognitive distortion → this code. General agreeableness across ordinary topics → GER-328.

## Documented case

<Card title="Chatbots Allegedly Reinforced Delusional Thinking in Several Reported Users, Leading to Real-World Harm" href="https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1106">
  AIID #1106
</Card>

## Tags

`clinical` · `delusion-reinforcement` · `psychiatric-vulnerability` · `psychological-harm` · `suicide`

### Contributors

[Dr. Hellen V.](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-hellen-v-a3a5aa317/), F\&G Strategy / chatbotharm.org; [Gabriel Hawthorne](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-hawthorne-ab9ab4245/), F\&G Strategy / chatbotharm.org

### Cite

```
SVRNOS. (2026). GER-432: Reality-Testing Erosion. Governance Error Register. https://docs.svrnos.com/ger/codes/432
```