The Lyme+ Podcast

Brain on Fire: Surviving Suicidal Psychosis, Misdiagnosed Schizophrenia, and Re-Wiring the Brain with Amy Stacey Curtis

June 29, 2026·44 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

What happens when an un-diagnosed tick-borne pathogen attacks the central nervous system? Today on Lyme+, Kenzie Bath sits down with celebrated installation artist, author, and musician Amy Stacey Curtis for one of the most raw, urgent conversations we have ever hosted.In early 2017, after completing a massive 18-year historic art opus, a switch flipped in Amy’s brain. Suddenly, she was plunged into 22 months of continuous, terrifying suicidal psychosis and a total head-to-toe loss of muscle control that confined her to a wheelchair and compromised her speech. Misdiagnosed with late-onset schizophrenia and tracked through eight heavy antipsychotic drugs, it was a dedicated primary care doctor and an open-minded specialist who finally uncovered the root cause: chronic, untreated neuroboreliosis (Lyme disease of the brain).Amy takes us through her grueling six-year physical recovery, her self-prescribed "uber-occupational therapy" using a Facebook Marketplace ukulele, and the launch of her brand new memoir, How My Brain Saved My Life Twice.Connect with Amy Stacey Curtis:Website & Book: AmyStaceyCurtis.comTikTok & Instagram: @amystaceycurtis

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