“She Lost Her Grip on Reality”: Inside the TikTok Descent of Rachel Todd, Accused of Abandoning Her Daughter

Rachel Todd wasn’t just another headline in the true crime section. Her case—abandoning her three-year-old daughter in a field—sent shockwaves through social media. But unlike other cases of criminal neglect, Todd’s story appears less rooted in malice and more in mental breakdown. Through her TikTok videos, which have since gone viral, viewers have witnessed what some experts and lay observers describe as a steady psychological unraveling.

What makes Rachel’s case stand out is the chilling, public trail she left behind: a series of increasingly erratic TikTok videos documenting her emotional highs and lows. The clips, uploaded between late December 2024 and early 2025, show a woman oscillating between spiritual euphoria and delusional paranoia—classic signs of potential mental health deterioration, possibly mania or schizophrenia. 

Rachel Todd wasn’t just another headline in the true crime section. Her case—abandoning her three-year-old daughter in a field—sent shockwaves through social media. But unlike other cases of criminal neglect, Todd’s story appears less rooted in malice and more in mental breakdown. Through her TikTok videos, which have since gone viral, viewers have witnessed what some experts and lay observers describe as a steady psychological unraveling.

What makes Rachel’s case stand out is the chilling, public trail she left behind: a series of increasingly erratic TikTok videos documenting her emotional highs and lows. The clips, uploaded between late December 2024 and early 2025, show a woman oscillating between spiritual euphoria and delusional paranoia—classic signs of potential mental health deterioration, possibly mania or schizophrenia.

At first, her videos didn’t seem all that different from the kind of “healing journey” content common on TikTok. Todd, 32, often spoke about spiritual awakening, detaching from toxic influences, and finding inner peace. She referenced astrology, energy shifts, and divine timing. In early videos, she came across as an eccentric but deeply emotional mother trying to find meaning after a series of difficult life events, including a divorce and alleged custody battles.

But as the weeks passed, her tone shifted. The once-coherent monologues became disjointed. She began filming in increasingly isolated locations—abandoned lots, parking garages, even dense woods—while rambling about being watched, followed, or “chosen for something bigger.” She spoke of voices. She mentioned angels. Then, more darkly, she warned of evil forces, coded messages, and unnamed enemies.

Her followers grew rapidly—not just because of the spiritual content, but because many sensed something was wrong. “You could almost see her breaking down in real time,” said one viewer, who had followed Todd’s page for months. “People were leaving comments begging her to get help. Some thought it was performance art. Others were genuinely scared for her and her daughter.”

By late January 2025, things took a critical turn. In one of her final uploads before the incident, Todd sat in the front seat of a car, eyes wide and unblinking, speaking in a whisper about being called to “sacrifice the old world.” She appeared gaunt and sleep-deprived, with erratic hand gestures and barely coherent speech. She ended the video by saying, “Everything will be reset.”

Days later, police in rural Tennessee received a 911 call from a concerned passerby who had spotted a barefoot toddler wandering alone in an overgrown field near a highway. The child, confused and crying, had no identification and couldn’t explain where her mother was. After a brief investigation and a few hours of public alerts, police connected the child to Rachel Todd. She was located later that evening, several miles away, attempting to break into a local church. She was arrested without incident.

The child was unharmed but severely dehydrated and disoriented. Authorities said she had likely been left in the field for several hours. She was taken into state custody, and child protective services have since confirmed she is now in the care of extended family.

Todd was charged with felony child neglect and endangerment. In her initial court appearance, she appeared confused, alternately crying and praying under her breath. Her attorney requested a full psychological evaluation, citing evidence of a mental health crisis. The court agreed, and Todd was transferred to a psychiatric facility for assessment.

Experts who’ve reviewed the publicly available TikTok videos agree the footage offers a rare, disturbing window into a real-time mental health decline. “We can’t diagnose someone over social media,” said Dr. Elaine Parmenter, a clinical psychologist who specializes in bipolar disorder and psychotic episodes. “But what we see in her case strongly suggests a manic or schizoaffective episode. The spiritual delusions, erratic behavior, emotional volatility—these are red flags.”

This case raises important and uncomfortable questions about how mental illness is consumed and often trivialized online. While some viewers tried to flag her videos to TikTok as troubling, the platform’s algorithms had already pushed her content to a wide audience under trending hashtags like #awakening and #chosen. By the time her behavior became overtly disturbing, her visibility had exploded—hundreds of thousands of views, thousands of comments, some sympathetic, others mocking.

Social media, many argue, is not just a stage but an accelerant. For people in the midst of a mental health crisis, platforms like TikTok can offer an intoxicating sense of attention and validation. “It can reinforce delusions of grandeur,” Parmenter explains. “If someone believes they have a divine mission and then gains followers who praise them, it can deepen the break from reality.”

In Todd’s case, the digital breadcrumbs she left behind are now being parsed not just by law enforcement, but by a growing community of online sleuths, mental health advocates, and true crime followers. The videos have been re-uploaded, dissected, and turned into cautionary montages on YouTube and Reddit. The hashtag #RachelToddCase has garnered millions of views.

But for all the public fascination, at the center of the story is a child—a three-year-old girl whose mother left her in a field under unclear, possibly delusional circumstances. Her future, thankfully, now appears to be more stable. But the trauma of abandonment, even brief, can leave lasting marks.

Family members of Rachel Todd have issued a statement urging compassion and privacy as they navigate what they describe as a “deeply painful time.” They confirmed that Rachel had previously been hospitalized for postpartum depression but was never formally diagnosed with a long-term psychiatric condition. “She’s not evil,” the statement read. “She’s sick. She needed help, and she didn’t get it in time.”

That sentiment is echoed by many in the mental health community who see Todd’s story as a tragic consequence of a broken system—one that lacks preventative care, destigmatization, and timely intervention. “We tend to look at people like Rachel and ask, ‘How could she do this?’” Parmenter said. “But we should be asking, ‘Where were the safety nets? Where was the help?’”

As Todd awaits the results of her psychiatric evaluation and the next phase of legal proceedings, her TikTok account remains frozen in time—a haunting archive of a mother spiraling in plain sight. For some, it’s a sobering reminder of how fast things can fall apart. For others, it’s a call to action for better mental health support, both online and offline.