Holly’s Story | Living With FND

A personal story of living with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
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My name’s Holly, I’m 15, and in October 2025 I was diagnosed with FND. I had two surgeries in 2024, one leaving me with nerve damage and one leaving me with sepsis in December. Shortly after that I started having symptoms like my hand cramping up into a claw and my legs going weak/ paralysed.

In July I couldn’t walk for over a week so I went to hospital and they called me a “medical mystery” and discharged me the next day saying it might be FND. I went to a different hospital a couple months after for something different and we talked my symptoms though with him and he refferred me to Neurology, and soon after diagnosed with FND after basic tests. My symptoms were manageable up until I was diagnosed but after my symptoms got so much worse, I started ticing, having tremors, absent seizures and more.

I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by supportive people, who understand and help me manage my symptoms. It’s so important to have people to talk to and that understand FND and how it affects your life because it can be isolating. It’s not an uncommon condition and should be studied more and there should be so much more support for those who have or may know someone with FND.

~ By Holly, Age 15