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Latest by FND Nope 5 days ago
Latest by FND Nope 5 days ago
Other skeptical sources
When we initially investigated FND, we were surprised to find almost no official skepticism.
Dr. David Tuller, through his “Trial By Error” series on virology.ws (https://virology.ws/tag/fnd/)He has challenged inflated prevalence claims, the reliability of diagnostic signs, and aspects of FND’s psychological framing.
Are there any other skeptical sources out there?
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I just found this forum having made the same searches and finding 'blind faith' out , no critical voices at all actually questioning whether this FND is a real thing, or a Flocking-behaviour Nonsense Diagnosis. It doesn't make sense, there isn't enough science underpinning the concept of FND (never mind enough medical common sense) to justify such unquestioning acceptance. People are not speaking out - I have met in the last couple of weeks someone with early diabetes who was diagnosed as having 'FND' and left to deteriorate until desperately ill, someone with rashes my doctor would identify simply as either a virus or a minor autoimmune flare up told they are 'FND', someone with epilepsy denied anticonvulsants because they didn't catch them on EEG who lost seven years of her schooling because of constant seizures until a different hospital managed to catch the seizures on EEG and gave her the medication she so desperately needed, then there was the person with migraines, whose neurologist was visibly shocked when, having been told they were 'FND' eventually was given migraine treatment and responded well, migraines virtually gone. That patient and others have now lost trust in doctors for life. Another patient with concussion from a bad fall refuses to go to hospital even under pressure from paramedics because 'it's a waste of time they told me I just have FND and this can't happen'. Then there's the patients with ME told that ME is 'FND', which is totally denying all the biomedical research, and the patients with Long Covid being told it's 'FND' ditto, and the patients with POTS (who need simple treatments readily available) ditto, and on and on and on. This runaway train has no working brakes and it's racing along independently of common sense and solid science.
It is quite odd, there is often a "code of silence" it seems https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/medicines-code-of-silence-about-mistakes
But that said, offline most of our clinicians that we're working with is very skeptical, but none of them will speak out about it on a public forum, it is a pity, since it paints a picture of something that is settled science, which it is not.
And I am afraid that clinicians that do buy into this are busy confusing presentation with diagnosis, FND is a bit of a distraction, everyone focussing on what they feel is not wrong, while missing what is actually wrong.
This;
https://dontbelievehype.co.uk/bullshit-break-downs/f/why-i-think-fnd-is-bullshit
Thank you for sharing this. This piece echoes much of what I have written about on my own site, particularly FND’s apparent unfalsifiability, its circular reasoning and the almost religious character the discourse can take on when hypotheses are treated as established facts and contrary evidence is absorbed rather than allowed to challenge the diagnosis.
Unfortunately, Google tends to favour authoritative, highly linked medical sources, such as NHS pages, major hospitals, professional organisations and established FND websites. This makes genuinely critical pieces like this remarkably difficult to find. I hope that, by continuing to publish and share such work, we can begin to change that.
A critical examination of Functional Neurological Disorder, exploring whether medication side effects and withdrawal symptoms are sometimes misclassified as psychological or “functional” neurological problems.
https://rxisk.org/functional-neurological-disorder/
Doctors sometimes dismiss physically sick patients with psychiatric diagnoses, entering errors into medical records that impede real treatment for years. Here’s how to protect yourself.
https://www.openmindmag.org/articles/its-not-in-your-head