Philosophy
Posts exploring the assumptions, principles, and ways of thinking that shape how medicine understands diagnosis, illness, evidence, and uncertainty.
The Boeing 747 School of Neurology: Shut Up, I'm the Pilot
Quackademic
Apparently, FND has neurological characteristics found nowhere else in medicine. Which ones? Excellent question. Unfortunately, instead of an answer, we've been offered a lecture about pilots, professional qualifications and AIDS denialism. Welcome aboard. Scientific evidence is apparently not included in the ticket price.
Different Causes, Same Symptoms: A New Theory of Functional Cognitive Disorder Raises Familiar Questions
FND Nope
Moderator
A 2026 Brain Sciences paper proposes that functional cognitive disorder and persistent post-concussion symptoms may converge on the same memory networks despite different origins. The theory raises important questions about neurological mechanisms, diagnostic uncertainty, and whether shared symptoms necessarily establish a shared disorder.
“FND Fundamentalists”: New Study Exposes Deep Divisions Over Functional Neurological Diagnoses
FND Nope
Moderator
An international study involving 1,853 patients and 400 clinicians reveals profound disagreements over FND diagnoses in autoimmune disease, reports of diagnostic overshadowing, and clinical reasoning that raises important questions about whether neurological symptoms attributed to FND may have different underlying causes.
When Everything Looks Functional: Ten Claims, One Convenient Diagnosis
Quackademic
ME/CFS? Stop pacing. Long COVID? Think functional. POTS, MCAS or CCI? Perhaps FND. We examine ten controversial public statements from an FND-specialist physical therapist, the evidence behind them, and the potential consequences for patients.
Before You Criticise FND, Apparently You Must First Prove You're Not a Terrible Person
FND Nope
Moderator
Polly Patterson questioned FND diagnoses in post-viral illness, carefully explaining that she wasn't dismissing patients or denying their suffering. FND Action's Kim Hearne responded with a nine-part critique. The exchange reveals how easily legitimate questions about medical practice become arguments about compassion, credibility and stigma.
FND Study of Nearly 600,000 Patients Reveals Different Biological Patterns Behind Different Symptoms
FND Nope
Moderator
A major 2026 study links FND diagnoses to inherited disorders, congenital abnormalities, neurodevelopmental conditions and early-life biological factors. But are these vulnerabilities to FND, or evidence that different biological diseases produce overlapping clinical phenotypes? We examine the findings through the Common Phenotypes Hypothesis.
Suicidality in FND: Are Researchers Overlooking the Obvious?
FND Nope
Moderator
When people live with disabling symptoms, chronic pain and uncertain futures, suicidal thoughts are hardly inexplicable. So why does FND research place such emphasis on psychiatric comorbidities? A closer look at the research agenda and the common-sense questions it raises.
The Emotional Processing Theory of FND: Eight Years Later, Where Is the Proof?
FND Nope
Moderator
A 2019 review proposed that abnormal emotional processing could generate functional neurological symptoms. Nearly eight years later, its central causal mechanism remains unvalidated. We examine the original research, its acknowledged weaknesses, and what subsequent studies have actually established.
Dismantling FND: When ME/CFS Starts Trespassing on Functional Neurology's Territory
FND Nope
Moderator
Dr. Brayden Yellman and Paige Zuckerman challenge FND, its diagnostic assumptions, and its overlap with ME/CFS. From seizure-like episodes explained by orthostatic intolerance to patients receiving alternative diagnoses, the question is simple: what happens when medicine starts explaining symptoms previously called functional?
The Weaponization of FND: Selma Blair, MS, and Hysteria With Better Branding
Quackademic
An FND-focused healthcare professional accuses Selma Blair of seeking sympathy, questions her MS history using dancing videos and declares her symptoms textbook FND. Apparently, hysteria got a rebrand, not a retirement.
