Social Media
Posts based on publicly shared accounts, discussions, or experiences from social media platforms such as Reddit, X, Facebook, and others.
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.
When a 50-Minute Seizure Becomes “Textbook FND”: Diagnostic Certainty Without Evidence
Quackademic
A Doctor of Physical Therapy claims a 50-minute seizure can only be functional. But prolonged epileptic seizures are medically documented. This raises serious questions about professional authority, diagnostic overreach, positive signs, and the dangers of diagnosing patients on social media.
Four Years Diagnosed With FND Before a DaTscan and Parkinson's Diagnosis
Reddit Stories
Social media
A Reddit user reports spending four years diagnosed with FND before receiving a Parkinson's disease diagnosis following a DaTscan. They say appropriate medication improved their condition, raising questions about the original diagnosis and the consequences of delayed investigation.
Inside the Reasoning of an FND Professional
Quackademic
We examined repeated public claims about FND made by an allied health professional who treats the disorder for a living. Some are supported by the literature. Others go much further than the evidence allows. The recurring problem is simple: evidence seems much better at confirming FND than disproving it.
From PNES and Suspected FND to C1 Paralysis: Amy Wang-Hiller's Story
Facebook Stories
Social media
Violinist Amy Wang-Hiller describes how suspected FND, a PNES diagnosis and repeated psychological attribution allegedly delayed recognition of tethered spinal cord, cervical instability and progressive paralysis.
Two Years Diagnosed With FND Before Autoimmune and Genetic Findings Emerged
Reddit Stories
Social media
A Reddit user reports spending two years diagnosed with FND and anxiety before investigations reportedly identified autoimmune and genetic neurological conditions. Their experience raises questions about overlapping symptoms, diagnostic closure, and why complex presentations may be interpreted as functional.
FND Diagnosis Reversed: Autoimmune Basal Ganglia Encephalitis
Reddit Stories
Social media
A patient diagnosed with FND reports that a second opinion revealed autoimmune basal ganglia encephalitis. Their account raises questions about incomplete investigations, overlooked neurological findings and whether an unexplained illness was prematurely labelled functional.
When Dysautonomia Is Found, Does FND Get a Free Pass?
FND Nope
Moderator
Seventeen patients previously diagnosed with psychogenic seizures were found to have autonomic abnormalities. When the study prompted claims that FND and dysautonomia can coexist, it raised a more important question: what evidence justifies retaining the original diagnosis.
She Asked if It Was Hemiplegic Migraine. Her Neurologist Diagnosed FND
Reddit Stories
Social media
A Reddit user describes recurrent episodes of one-sided paralysis that were diagnosed as FND. She says she raised hemiplegic migraine herself but it was rejected. Three years later, a headache specialist diagnosed chronic hemiplegic migraine, and she reports substantial improvement with migraine treatment.
Janet Dafoe on FND: "Where the Sun Don’t Shine"
X stories
Social media
ME/CFS advocate and psychologist Janet Dafoe has criticised psychosomatic explanations of poorly understood illness for years. In 2026, that criticism turned directly to FND, raising questions about diagnostic certainty, ME/CFS, Long COVID and what happens when uncertainty becomes a diagnosis.
