Fighting the FND stigma: the consultant neurologist

When patients enter Jon Stone’s consulting room, he will see fear on their faces which comes from having a complex and debilitating condition. Many will have experienced paralysis, tremor, and seizures, along with chronic pain.By the time they leave the consultation, Stone’s patients often have a sense of relief that comes from knowing what their condition is and that it is not—as some clinicians may have told them—“all in their mind.”Stone, a consultant neurologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and honorary professor of neurology for the University of Edinburgh, specialises in functional neurological disorder (FND).According to Stone, up to 100 000 people in the UK live with FND, which can be as debilitating as epilepsy, stroke, or multiple sclerosis. The most common misconception about it is that patients are in control of some or all of their symptoms.“It has been a stigmatised condition,” says Stone. “Many doctors know terms…
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