“Girl, where are you?!? U, ok??!”
That’s the message one of Sabrina Bahsoon’s more than 800,000 TikTok followers left after the influencer, better known as “Tube Girl,” disappeared from social media for months.
The 25-year-old Malaysian-born law graduate, who rose to fame through his dramatic lip-sync performances filmed on the London Underground, was not taking a planned break from publishing.
In fact, she revealed in a recent TikTok, she spent four months in hospital after developing sudden episodes of psychosis — and doctors might not have found the unlikely cause without her father’s urging.
Bahsoon said the ordeal began in March, the same day she filmed one of her iconic Tube videos with British girl group FLO. When she returned home, she began crying hysterically.
“I was screaming, screaming, acting very psychotic,” she said. “I didn’t know it was my first psychotic episode.”
The next morning, she had broken up with her then-boyfriend, a decision that took her sisters by surprise. They rushed in and found her in a distressed state, posting videos of her screaming and crying and trying to harm herself.
Her sisters called an ambulance, and Bahsoon spent two days in the emergency room, where she continued to behave erratically and barely slept. Despite her deteriorating condition, she recalls, she was released.
“That’s where I start to lose my memory,” she said.
From what she later pieced together, Bahsoon became increasingly agitated at home, throwing things and trying to hit her siblings. When his family called for help, the police arrived.
“I was taken away in handcuffs because I was so violent they had to restrain me,” she said.
After being sedated, she was transferred to a mental health facility and diagnosed with psychosis.
Bahsoon said doctors treated her with antipsychotic medication, but her condition continued to deteriorate. She remembers losing about 26 pounds, becoming catatonic and having difficulty speaking, eating and sleeping.
“I lost control of my mind and body,” she said.
After consulting with a neurologist he knew, his father requested additional testing, specifically for anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a rare but serious autoimmune disease that can cause psychiatric symptoms, seizures and movement problems.
Bahsoon said doctors initially resisted the request but eventually agreed to perform the tests after about two months. Tests revealed an ovarian teratoma, a type of tumor that can trigger the immune system to attack the brain.
Eventually, he was diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis.
The fight against NMDAR is a particular concern for young women, who often strike in their 20s. Early symptoms may resemble a psychiatric illness, including psychosis, agitation, and dramatic personality changes, making the illness difficult to recognize.
While many autoimmune diseases are more common in women, a recent study of more than 6,600 autoimmune patients found that women reported psychiatric misdiagnoses 50% more often – and psychosomatic misdiagnoses 75% more often – than men.
Bahsoon compared his experience to “Brain on Fire,” a hit 2016 film based on the 2012 memoir by New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan, who recounted her own heartbreaking battle with the disease after initially receiving an incorrect diagnosis.
The hospital later apologized for keeping Bahsoon in psychiatric care for several months without testing his condition sooner, she said.
“It’s a big part of my life that I’ll never get back from, that I’ll probably never remember.”
in June, Bahsoon underwent surgery to remove the tumor. She credited her surgical team with preserving her ovaries and said she also received two rounds of immunotherapy to help clear out harmful antibodies. She was released in July.
“It changed my life,” she said through tears, describing the loss of memories, the end of her relationship and the trauma of spending months in the hospital.
“And now I’m in the real world and trying to figure out what my new normal looks like.”
Bahsoon said she considers herself lucky to have received a diagnosis and treatment, especially after seeing other patients who did not have family members advocating for them.
“Anyone who is experiencing these symptoms and has just been diagnosed with psychosis, I encourage you to fight and get further examinations and do further testing. »
Gn Health
