According to international media reports, this unusual case began in 2023 and has only recently concluded with a fine imposed on the school.
Reports reveal that in October 2023, at a school in Hangzhou, China, students were shown a horror movie produced by the school itself while their regular teacher was on leave.
Later that same evening, one of the students — a young girl — began to experience a sudden and severe decline in her mental state. Alarmed by her strange behavior, her parents rushed her to a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with Acute and Transient Psychotic Disorder — a condition in which symptoms appear abruptly due to psychological stress and may last from a few days to up to three months.
Although her condition improved with treatment, the girl’s parents filed a lawsuit against the school, arguing that the horror film had caused their daughter’s psychological breakdown. They demanded 30,000 yuan in compensation for the emotional and mental harm their daughter suffered.
The parents further stated that medical records confirmed their daughter — and their entire family — had no prior history of mental illness, emphasizing that her condition emerged only after the film was shown in class.
The school, however, denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the girl’s mental health issues were likely pre-existing. After nearly two years of legal proceedings, the court recently ruled in favor of the girl’s family, ordering the school to pay 9,182 yuan in damages, thereby closing the case.
