Sabrina Bahsoon, the TikTok star who shot to fame as the viral “Tube Girl”, has revealed she spent months in hospital after experiencing sudden episodes of psychosis and claims she was initially misdiagnosed.
Bahsoon, who went viral in 2023 after confidently filming herself dancing and lip-syncing on the London Underground, shared the details of her health battle in a video posted to TikTok.
The 25-year-old said she was eventually diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the brain. She explained that her form of the condition was linked to teratomas, or tumours, in her ovaries which were producing antibodies that attacked her brain.
A Sudden Onset of Psychosis
Bahsoon said her ordeal began on March 19, when she had filmed the original Tube Girl video with British girlband Flo, before returning home and experiencing what she described as her first episode of psychosis.
On her TikTok, she said: “I had come home to my ex and I just started hysterically crying. I was screaming, shouting, acting very psychotic. Little did I know, this was my first episode of psychosis.”
The following morning, she said she behaved unusually and unexpectedly ended her relationship. Her sisters became concerned after she messaged them about the break-up and went to see her. Bahsoon said her behaviour became increasingly erratic and she began posting videos of herself screaming and crying on TikTok.
She added: “I started crying, trying to hurt myself and my sisters eventually ended up calling the ambulance. When the ambulance came, they took me to the emergency room and I stayed there for two days. Throughout the whole time I was in the emergency, I was non stop screaming. I didn’t sleep.”
Hospitalisation and Misdiagnosis
After being discharged, Bahsoon said her condition deteriorated further. She described becoming violent, throwing things and trying to hit members of her family, before paramedics called police.
“I was taken away in handcuffs because I was so violent,” she said. “They had to restrain me.”
She was later sectioned and moved to a mental health hospital, where she said she was diagnosed with psychosis. Bahsoon said she spent around two months there and has little memory of the period. She claimed she was treated with antipsychotic medication but did not respond to it, eventually becoming unable to speak, eat or sleep.
“I lost control of my mind, my body,” she said. “I couldn't speak, eat, sleep.”
Diagnosis and Treatment
Bahsoon said her father, who had been in contact with a neurologist he knew, pushed for doctors to carry out additional tests for encephalitis. She said doctors eventually agreed to the testing after around two months, while scans of her ovaries found teratomas producing the antibodies responsible for attacking her brain.
Bahsoon said the mental health hospital later apologised for not identifying the condition sooner. She spent time in hospital from March until June before undergoing surgery on June 18 to remove the teratomas.
The TikTok star described the operation as “super risky” and said she could have lost her ovaries, but said doctors were able to save them. She also underwent immunotherapy, which she described as a five-hour drip designed to remove the antibodies. Bahsoon was eventually discharged in July after recovering from surgery and receiving two rounds of immunotherapy.
Recovery and Looking Forward
Reflecting on the ordeal, she said she had lost much of her memory and was struggling to process what had happened.
“This obviously altered my life,” she said. “So many things have happened, and I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole situation after losing so much, like, my memory and going through a breakup and all the trauma that comes with, you know, living in a hospital for five months.”
Bahsoon has since returned to Malaysia and said she is now trying to work out what her “new normal” looks like. She said doctors had told her she was “better off than 90% of people who go through this”, adding that she felt “so lucky to be here”.
The social media star said she wants to return to music and continue creating content, but wants to focus on her recovery first.
“I wanna be this strong, confident girl that everybody knows me for,” she said. “But of course, I have to go on this healing journey first.”
Bahsoon added: “Anyone who has these symptoms and is just diagnosed as psychosis, I encourage you to fight and get the extra scans and do the extra tests. I was in the mental hospital with a lot of other patients who didn't have anyone fighting for them. And I was super lucky to have my parents fighting for me.”
Bahsoon first became an internet sensation in 2023 after her confident Tube Girl videos filmed on the London Underground went viral. She subsequently worked with major fashion and beauty brands, appeared alongside celebrities including Naomi Campbell and released music. She also made a cameo appearance in the 2025 film F1.
“I'm excited to be alive, I'm excited to have my mind back,” she said.
