FND Portal: Hey, Sometimes the Wires Get Crossed

A place for news and info on Functional Neurological Disorder and the still-mysterious brain.

[fibromyalgicaf]

[whatshouldwecallchronicillness]

When I look at my symptom tracker and try to find trends...

[naonic-blog-deactivated20230221]

John Oliver Buys $15M of Medical Debt for $60K and Forgives It All, Because He Could

Once again John Oliver proves that you can do anything with money and lawyers

Oliver then proceeded to detail how with $50 and knowledge of the law he was able to successfully apply online to create a debt buying company named “Central Asset Recovery Professionals,” or as Oliver put it, “CARP” named after “a bottom-feeding fish.”

After setting up a rudimentary website for CARP, the satirical, but still real company was offered a $15 million package of medical debt for $60,000.

Oliver explained that the debt was out of statute, which means it is the kind of debt that a collector can only continue to collect, but not sue the debtor for.

Then, instead of chasing down the 9,000 debtors in the debt package as a normal collection agency would, Oliver decided to stage the largest one-time giveaway in television history and work with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to forgive the $15 million with no consequences for the debtors.

[helloquirks]

Okay but now I know what I want to do of I get rich?

[beabaseball]

You dont have to be rich to do a bit of this actually

RIP Medical Debt is a charity (and therefore takes donations). They buy the rights to medical debt and then forgive them. So far they’ve forgiven over 1B in medical debt.

So a little ray of hope for someone out there today.

[shayvaalski]

Donating $10 buys $1,000 of medical debt. This is real, it works, and we’ve done it ourselves. You can too.

[yummy-tummy-time]

As of June 29, 2024, the charity is still active under a new name, Undue Medical Debt

[spiralarray]

Signal Boost!!!

[ffcrazy15]

If you’re Catholic this is a great thing to do for the Jubilee year by the way. Forgive debts and set captives free!

[bringmemyrocks]

Now renamed as Undue Medical Debt:

Undue Medical Debt Homepage

Undue Medical Debt makes it easy for donors to make an impactful difference in the lives of those struggling with medical debt.

[getvalentined]

I got a letter recently letting me know that a $3k medical bill from an emergency room visit in 2018 had been purchased by Undue Medical Debt and destroyed. Gone forever. They were very clear that I didn’t have to do anything, but they would appreciate it if I would talk to people about it to spread the word about what they were doing. Fucking phenomenal.

[lizzylolz]

Do you get it now? Without due process, everyone is at risk. How are you going to prove your citizenship otherwise?

[arcticduckie]

Shoutout to people with Functional Neurological Disorder

Shoutout to people with functional tics

Shoutout to people who have dystonia

Shoutout to people with Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

Shoutout to people with paralysis and or weakness

Shoutout to people with tremors

Shoutout to people who shut down/unresponsive episodes

Shoutout to people who have walking difficulties

Shoutout to people who have numbness

Shoutout to people who have speech problems

Shoutout to people with vision problems

Shoutout to people with hearing problems

Shoutout to people with memory loss

Shoutout to everyone with FND

[fndportal]

I am going to re-find the strength in my body.

[fndportal]

Update: I’m doing it. Slowly, but it’s happening.

[fndportal]

Hello! I'm 16 years old and currently in the diagnostic process for FND (we are quite sure I have it). There are no specialists in my area who treat minors, but I'm going to a psychologist who has a few FND therapists to hopefully do some psychotherapy for my PNES and confirm the FND diagnosis.

I have mobility issues, paralysis, weakness, seizures, and extreme fatigue.

Do you have any tips for newly diagnosed teens?

TYSM for creating this blog btw! I've discovered in my research that FND is MADLY misunderstood.

Hey there! Very sorry that you may be dealing with FND - those sound like some pretty intense symptoms no matter what. ❤️

It’s hard to give blanket recommendations for FND, but the “Reset and Rewire” book is quite good. It’s written for kids and teens but has wise advice for people w FND at any age IMO.

If you’d like to go further, I’ve also compiled some favorite resources from the FND community (treatment providers, info in FND, the history and biology of it, etc) at the Landing Pad.

Hope this provides a helpful first step! Wishing you best of luck. Be gentle with yourself on the road ahead. 🙏

[spooniestrongart]

[deathtokillian]

If you are trans I need you to stay alive.

Stay alive for every other trans person fighting, stay alive for every trans person who is no longer here, and most importantly stay alive for yourself.

They don’t get to erase us! They don’t get to take away our rights, and treat us as less than human. Don’t let them erase us, and don’t let them make you a statistic. Don’t let them win.

Stay alive

If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for others. Do it out of spite.

[fndportal]

I am going to re-find the strength in my body.

[ghosst-writer]

So proud of all the people protesting in support of ending occupation of gaza and ending the ongoing genocide. Keep fighting, keep yelling out, the fact that it's taking so much to try to stop them proves that it's working. It's getting their attention, disrupting their routines. It's easy to ignore something happening an ocean away, but harder to when it's in your face every day.

Support Palestinians, support a free Palestine, do what you can to help those who can be out on the streets making it so that they can't ignore us. Whether it be handing out supplies, organizing, protesting, sharing information, or just cheering from the side lines, every voice can help.

[fndportal]

“Cadenza for Fractured Consciousness” – my deep-dive essay into the history, neurobiology, and social impact of Functional Neurological Disorder – is now available in a full French translation.

Thank you x1000 to the amazing folks at FND Together / TNF Ensemble, who took up the work of translating (all 11,000 words!) into French, and thus making this essay available to francophone communities. I appreciate their dedication and allyship, and the thoughtfulness with which they approached this project to ensure that the neuroscience is communicated accurately, and the artistic intent of the essay preserved. Please share widely, and bonne lecture!

[fndportal]

Wow fuck this

Tumblr’s owner is striking deals with OpenAI and Midjourney for training data, says report

It’s been rumored on Tumblr for days.

[fndportal]

Hey! I was diagnosed with FND four years ago and I didn’t even hear of anyone else having it until about a year ago. Honestly this blog just existing makes me excited because we’re not alone :)

Hey there! Thanks for reaching out :) Messages like this make my heart glad. I'm delighted that this has been a validating find for you. The isolation and loneliness of FND can be one of the hardest parts. There are thankfully some great FND communities out there. Twitter (I will not call it the other name :) ) has a good number of active FND folks, and the community is actually growing pretty nicely on Instagram too. Everyone's familiar with the social situation of FND in these communities, so there's little judgment and lots of solidarity. If you happen to use either of those platforms, feel free to give me a follow there or search some FND-related hashtags (#functionalneurologicaldisorder, #fndaware) and I'm sure folks will be delighted to say hi. As will I!

[fndportal]

Also have fnd. How long have you had it ?

Hi there! I’ve had mine since 2010. And you?

[fndportal]

What Is a Functional Neurological Disorder?

Hybrid disorders of the brain, mind, and body once confounded physicians and researchers. Today experts are beginning to uncover the conditi

A new feature-length article in Experience Life magazine on FND. It covers what the disorder is, how it changes the scientific understanding of brain-body disorders, and tells a little of my personal story as well. ❤️

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

Your best is what you can do without harming your mental and physical health, not what you can accomplish when you disregard it.