A young Irish student Hannah Farrell was convinced she was having a breakdown when she had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital .
She said: “I didn’t feel depressed. Deep down, I knew something more sinister was going on, but I felt as if doctors were assuming I just didn’t want to accept help for a mental health condition. An MRI scan revealed that she was suffering from encephalitis – a rare but serious inflammation of the brain.She was pumped full of antibiotics and given 13 different plasma transfusions.
“Looking back, it wasn’t the wisest decision to go, but I really didn’t want to miss out on seeing him. She added: “I don’t remember the funeral, but apparently I was acting really strangely and couldn’t comprehend what had happened."I have no idea how, but I kept working right up until I was admitted to hospital.
“I think the doctors thought I just wasn’t accepting help, and so I was referred to a psychiatric hospital.” She said: “That actually turned out to be unconnected to the encephalitis, but in a way it was almost lucky as it flagged me up to neurologists and meant they leapt into action." When 13 different plasma exchanges - a procedure that removes plasma from the blood and replaces it with new plasma fluid – failed to make any difference, things looked grave.From there, she went from strength to strength and was walking again in just two weeks, although her memory was greatly affected.
In February 2018 she started speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Dublin. After returning to university Hannah submitted her final thesis – poignantly written on brain injuries – in April this year and is now gearing up to take her third year exams.