Autoimmune Disease New Research Area for SMI

A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.

New research suggests that a subset of patients with psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia may actually have autoimmune disease that attacks the brain

After months of targeted treatments — and more than two decades trapped in her mind — April woke up.

“These are the forgotten souls. We’re not just improving the lives of these people, but we’re bringing them back from a place that I didn’t think they could come back from.”

— Sander Markx

The awakening of April — and the successful treatment of other people with similar conditions — now stand to transform care for some of psychiatry’s sickest patients, many of whom are languishing in mental institutions.

Researchers working with the New York state mental health-care system have identified about 200 patients with autoimmune diseases, some institutionalized for years, who may be helped by the discovery.

For more details, go to: washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/01/schizophrenia-autoimmune-lupus-psychiatry/