Questioning FND. Challenging dogma. Putting patients first.
Welcome to FND Nope's official space. This is where we share updates, investigations, research, and reflections on Functional Neurological Disorder, with a particular focus on diagnostic practices, medical dogma, patient safety, and accountability. We question assumptions, challenge established narratives, and believe no diagnosis should be beyond scrutiny. You don't have to agree with us. In fact, we welcome opposing perspectives. What matters is evidence, open discussion, and the willingness to ask difficult questions.
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.
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.
A woman in her 40s was treated for functional neurological disorder and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures after a family bereavement. Her worsening symptoms were eventually traced to anti-LGI1 autoimmune encephalitis, a treatable neurological disease confirmed through MRI and antibody testing.
A September 2026 study examined 17 patients diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. All had abnormal orthostatic findings, and 10 of 14 patients receiving medication improved after treatment for autonomic dysfunction. Some had visited emergency departments up to seven times before further neurological assessment. The findings raise serious questions about premature PNES diagnoses and missed physiological causes of seizure-like movements.
A 43-year-old woman became unable to stand during a COVID-19 infection. Doctors diagnosed FND and cancelled her scheduled tilt-table test. Twelve days later, testing revealed her blood pressure collapsing to 66/52 mmHg. Further investigations identified evidence of immune-mediated autonomic dysfunction, and she eventually recovered following treatment.
European experts have identified major inconsistencies in genetic testing for rare neurological diseases. Some conditions can produce unusual symptoms that resemble FND or other disorders, while existing tests may fail to identify their genetic causes. New recommendations aim to improve diagnostic accuracy.
The CODES and Physio4FMD trials failed to demonstrate significant benefits on their primary outcomes. David Tuller exposes how FND researchers subsequently promoted secondary findings, questioned their original measures and misrepresented consensus recommendations.
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.
Daniele Gray lost the ability to walk at 13 and was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. Eight years later, an MRI revealed a 20 mm Chiari I malformation and a spinal cord syrinx requiring surgery. Was the underlying neurological condition missed?
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.
A 2026 Frontiers in Neurology review explores whether compensation, litigation and financial support can reinforce FND disability. But where is the evidence that paying injured people keeps them sick, and what happens when speculative theories influence legal liability?
Allison Lawlor lived with severe neurological symptoms, received an FND diagnosis and later died from a pulmonary embolism. Her story raises important questions about diagnostic uncertainty, thromboembolic risk and why patients owe no loyalty to a diagnosis.