Can I get better?

Written by Professor Mark Edwards

The short answer is yes. We know from our current understanding of how the brain malfunctions is in theory possible.

There is of course the question: “what does ‘better’ mean?” Some of you in your questions asked whether people with FND can get 100% back to normal. For other people “getting better” may mean something a bit different, like being able to do more of the things they want to do, but not being completely symptom free. I have certainly seen people with FND get 100% better. I think it is perhaps more common for people who “get better” to experience significant improvement in symptoms so that symptoms, most of the time, fade into the background and do not interfere too much with what people want to do day to day. This is not quite the same as being 100% symptom free, but it is clearly a big change which in a real way affects quality of life.

In people attending general neurology clinics in the UK who receive a diagnosis of FND, about 40% of people say they have got better within a year, usually without much in the way of specific treatment. This study is part of ground-breaking epidemiological work done by Jon Stone and colleagues in Scotland.

There are, of course, people who do not “just get better”.  Our understanding of what specific treatment might help such people is still very limited. Although not based on a great deal of evidence, my own approach is: