07/23/2025
After a 20-year history of severe psychiatric issues and repeated hospitalizations, Mary’s symptoms seemed to vanish following chemotherapy. Her remarkable recovery adds to growing evidence that some cases diagnosed as schizophrenia may, in fact, be caused by autoimmune disorders. These discoveries helped inspire the creation of Columbia’s SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry, founded in 2023 to uncover biologically distinct—and potentially treatable—subtypes of mental illness.
Some psychiatric patients may actually have treatable autoimmune conditions. But what happens to the newly sane?
