Diagnostic Dogma
A tag exploring how medical diagnoses can become entrenched frameworks, sometimes treated as settled conclusions rather than continually testable hypotheses. Posts examine the role of clinical authority, diagnostic criteria, evidentiary standards, and alt
18 Months of Neurological Decline, a Psychosomatic Label, and the Lyme Infection They Missed
FND Nope
Moderator
A 54-year-old woman spent more than 18 months experiencing progressive neurological symptoms before doctors identified late Lyme neuroborreliosis and spinal cord inflammation. Her symptoms had been attributed to psychosomatic causes, despite worsening mobility, bladder and bowel dysfunction, and significant weight loss. A 2025 case report documents the diagnostic delay, the evidence that overturned the earlier assumption, and the lasting disability after treatment.
The MRI Was Normal. The Lesion Was Still There.
FND Nope
Moderator
Studies using 7 Tesla MRI have uncovered neurological lesions missed by conventional scans, sometimes confirmed through surgery and pathology. So how much confidence should clinicians place in a normal MRI, and what happens when they decide patients do not need imaging at all?
“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.
When Lyme Disease Symptoms Persist: What Do We Actually Know?
FND Nope
Moderator
Lyme disease can have lasting consequences, but persistent symptoms do not necessarily mean persistent infection. We examine untreated infection, reinfection, treatment limitations, PTLDS and the difficult questions raised when patients with unresolved neurological symptoms receive an FND diagnosis. Drawing on published research, patient accounts and discussions on FND Nope, we also explore how clinical terminology can obscure rather than clarify diagnostic uncertainty.
When Drug-Induced Neurological Damage Gets Labelled FND
FND Nope
Moderator
Psychiatrist David Healy challenges the use of FND diagnoses in patients experiencing persistent medication-related neurological symptoms, warning that drug toxicity can be overlooked, patients dismissed and potentially harmful treatments repeated.
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.
19-Year-Old Diagnosed With Conversion Disorder Actually Had Rare Autoimmune Encephalitis
FND Nope
Moderator
A 19-year-old woman with anxiety, trembling legs and balance problems was diagnosed with conversion disorder. Further testing revealed rare autoimmune encephalitis. Following immunotherapy, she recovered completely. Her case raises serious questions about premature psychiatric diagnoses and overlooked neurological disease.
Diagnosed With FND After Negative Genetic Tests. The Patient Actually Had Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
FND Nope
Moderator
A patient spent years with neurological symptoms, repeated falls and fractures while doctors attributed his condition to FND and other functional diagnoses. New genetic testing eventually identified SCA27B. A published three-patient case series exposes the dangers of negative investigations, diagnostic confirmation bias and assuming neurological presentations must fit existing expectations.
