After the 18 high school girls and one boy in western New York came down with Tourette’s syndrome-like symptoms in 2011 and made national news, they were all diagnosed with conversion disorder, meaning that their physical symptoms came from an emotional trigger rather than a physical one. But Lori Brownell and her mother refused to accept this diagnosis, so they went in search of a doctor who would diagnose Lori with chronic Lyme disease – which many doctors say doesn’t exist. Lori is undergoing a controversial treatment that killed at least one person and isn’t covered by health insurance. Her mother can’t pay the medical bills, but she is continuing Lori’s treatment anyway, going into debt in the process. This story is a snapshot of the lengths to which people will go to avoid a mental illness diagnosis.
