Authorities have determined that the passing of a college soccer player, who was recently found deceased after engaging in a peculiar “devil trend” activity on TikTok, was a suicide.
Claire Tracy, a 19-year-old sophomore at Rice University, died from “asphyxia due to oxygen replacement with helium,” according to the Harris County Forensic Laboratory in Texas. They classified her death as a suicide.
Tracy had been a freshman soccer player at the University of Houston but decided to leave the Division I team after facing challenges with her playing time. She had been vocal about her struggles with mental health on social media.
“I’m kind of worn out from feeling both complete misery and this sort of neutral state, regardless of what’s happening around me,” she shared in her TikTok videos posted in October.
Despite her challenges, she was studying finance at Rice University and had a strong academic record, making the honor roll all four years in high school. Since her passing, friends from college have been honoring her memory, remembering the legacy she left in both academics and athletics.
“The last couple of days have just been filled with shock and confusion. Personally, it’s even more painful for her,” commented Dayo Tennyson, who had shared a locker with Tracy the previous year.
In the days leading up to her death, Tracy participated in a TikTok trend that involved engaging with ChatGPT in a challenge known as “The Devil’s Trend,” where users pose a question to the chatbot about contacting the devil. Tracy’s inquiry sought a brutally honest evaluation of herself, aiming for insights into her insecurities and flaws through the chatbot’s responses.
One response to her prompt included, “You burned yourself out in search of meaning, analyzing your existence until it became a violent act in itself. You didn’t need temptation from the devil; you provided the tools to reveal your truth.”
This trend has surfaced amid concerns that chatbots might fuel suicidal thoughts and even instruct users on self-harm, as noted by OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT.
Rice University has stated that it provides around-the-clock mental health counseling services for its students.
If you are in New York City and facing suicidal thoughts or a mental health emergency, you can reach out to 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential support. For those outside the city, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 is available 24/7, or visit the link below.
