A woman’s sudden obsession with kids’ movies and the Frozen soundtrack was hiding a rare brain disease that almost killed her

Elise Seymour, 18, just wanted to stay in her hotel room and watch kids’ television for the final three days of her vacation in Rhodes in September 2025. According to Unilad, what felt like an innocent obsession with Disney movies and the Frozen soundtrack would later turn out to be an early warning sign of a rare, life-threatening brain illness. Seymour, a waitress from Hampshire, UK, was on vacation with her then partner when she began struggling to understand what people around her were saying.

She assumed her ears were blocked from swimming. “I kept saying ‘what are you saying to me?'” she said. “Everything just sounded like gibberish.” She also felt extremely tired, which she attributed to having flu before the trip. On the flight home from Rhodes, Seymour listened to the Frozen soundtrack the entire way and has no memory of the journey. Once home, she could not count to ten or recite the alphabet and spent the following week mostly in bed watching Minions and Despicable Me.

She even fell asleep with her head in her plate while out for a curry. “I couldn’t do anything,” she said. “I was just crying hysterically, I was very very scared. I thought, if I can’t count to ten I’ve got no future.” Seizures linked to underlying medical conditions have made headlines before, including a young figure skater’s case that drew attention to how serious such episodes can become.

The diagnosis and what came next

After developing an achy, stiff back and neck, Seymour had a seizure in the shower and was taken by ambulance to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital. Scans came back clear and she was sent home after a few hours of monitoring. “It was terrifying,” she said. “I woke surrounded by paramedics, I had no idea what had happened. My head was hurting.”

She continued having seizures, including one during a routine GP appointment, which sent her back to the hospital. She had another seizure in the waiting room and became hysterical, leading staff to suspect psychosis and sedate her. A lumbar puncture revealed raised immunological activity, and an MRI scan showed inflammation and irregular activity in her brain.

A neurologist began treating her for suspected autoimmune anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis with immunoglobulin and steroids, after her behavior reminded him of the film Brain on Fire, which depicts a real case of the illness. Blood tests at a specialist center in Oxford confirmed the diagnosis. Autoimmune anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the brain’s own cells, causing swelling.

According to Great Ormond Street Hospital, the causes are not fully understood, though some cases of autoimmune encephalitis can follow an infection such as a cold. The illness typically begins with confusion and memory loss before progressing to seizures and loss of movement over several weeks. Seymour believes stress and burnout following her A-levels and the start of a new job may have contributed to her condition.

Seymour was discharged and prescribed 40mg of steroids daily along with omeprazole to support her body, tapering off both medications last month. She has had to relearn basic skills including speaking, writing, and playing guitar, and still experiences short-term memory issues, though she returned to work in February. “It’s so important that people know about this illness,” she said.

“I am extremely lucky to be alive, and so grateful to have survived this. I was a completely different person. If you spot changes like this in yourself or someone you know, get help straight away. Trust your instincts, and even if nobody believes you, keep trying. It isn’t worth the risk of waiting.”