After he told her about the movie, the symptoms experienced by the main character in the movie sounded eerily similar to what Anderson had. The condition was depicted in the 2016 Netflix film “ Brain on Fire,” a film that Vaphiades and a colleague had recently been discussing. It can affect both men and women however, is more common among women. These antibodies disrupt normal brain signaling and cause brain swelling, or encephalitis. The body creates antibodies against the NMDA receptors in the brain. What Vaphiades heard when he met Kassidy eventually led him to diagnose her as having anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the brain. It was there where something happened that she did not expect - Vaphiades listened. That is when she was referred to Michael Vaphiades, M.D., professor and chief of Neuro-ophthalmology and Electrophysiology Services with the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. I felt like a stranger in my own body.”Īnderson says one of the lowest points of her battle was one semester in her microbiology class when she could not even remember her own name. “I couldn’t breathe, and my doctors thought I might have severe anxiety. “I felt like I was going to die if I didn’t get any help,” she said. All the while, her local doctors were unable to pinpoint what exactly the cause was. She started experiencing involuntary eye and arm movements in addition to her other symptoms. I didn’t want people to think something was wrong with me.”īy March of 2019, she could not keep her secret any longer and finally told her mother. The thing about this was that I could pull myself together for about 20 minutes a day. “I didn’t want anyone to freak out,” Anderson said.

Anderson says she would space out nearly 60 times a day, claiming she felt as though she were floating. Kassidy Anderson“I thought it was probably a torn retina,” she said. In winter 2017, she began to experience severe headaches and memory issues and saw flashes of light. Kassidy Anderson knows exactly what that feels like.Īnderson, a native of Buckatunna, Mississippi, is a senior at William Carey University. Imagine being a college student - involved with multiple extracurricular activities, rigorous studying and more - and having everything turned upside down in a matter of months.

Brain on fire about