Ellen had a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) due to a rock hitting her on the forehead- (temporal lobe area). From that, she was in a coma for at least one or more months
When she recovered her physician diagnosed her as being cataplexic.
Cataplexy is a sudden and transient episode of muscle weakness accompanied by full conscious awareness, typically triggered by emotions such as laughing, crying, or terror. Cataplexy affects approximately 70% of people who have narcolepsy, and is caused by an autoimmune destruction of hypothalamic neurons that produce the neuropeptide hypocretin, which regulates arousal and has a role in stabilization of the transition between wake and sleep states.
from Wikipedia
There are five main symptoms of catatonia
Cataplexy
Estimated to be present in 65%-75% of patients with narcolepsy9
This most specific symptom of narcolepsy type 1, is the sudden, generally brief (<2 minutes) loss of muscle tone with retained consciousness. It is usually triggered by strong emotions, such as laughter, surprise, or anger.2,3,10
Hallucinations (hypnagogic and/or hypnopompic)
May affect 33%-80% of patients with narcolepsy11
Hypnagogic hallucinations are vivid dreamlike experiences that occur while falling asleep. When they happen while waking up, they are called hypnopompic hallucinations.2,3 These events may occur with sleep paralysis.3
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Affects 100% of patients with narcolepsy9,11,12
Excessive daytime sleepiness is the inability to stay awake and alert during the day, resulting in periods of an irrepressible need for sleep or unintended lapses into drowsiness or sleep.2,3 Excessive daytime sleepiness is the cardinal symptom of narcolepsy and often the most disabling.2
Sleep paralysis
May affect 25%-50% of patients with narcolepsy11
Sleep paralysis is the disturbing, temporary inability to move voluntary muscles or speak during sleep-wake transitions. It is often accompanied by hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations.1-3,13
Sleep disruption
Estimated to affect 30%-95% of patients with narcolepsy11
Sleep disruption (also known as disrupted nighttime sleep) is due to frequent awakenings, resulting in poor quality sleep.2,3,11 Because narcolepsy is a disorder of sleep-wake state instability,14,15 many patients commonly report disruption of nighttime sleep.2,
from
https://www.narcolepsylink.com/scre...52510bfa500c1cf0f7356a1066ce6424&gclsrc=3p.ds
On another site, I learned that that the patient may also exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia. No one could say for certain if her visions came from mental illness or not. But it is not trite, and all of those visions need to be checked against the Bible for its congruency with Bible doctrine.
I did work with people with TBI (which is another term for severe concussive injury) does not go away on its own accord. It is severe and lasting a lifetime.
From a medical aspect, and from case management, these people are to be pitied and helped through their long-lost abilities. However, these people should not be in leadership positions because they are very fragile, and frequently misjudge or wrongly infer things that are not so.
From an apologetic standpoint, it is not wrong to criticize the things she said which are not Bible based. Buut it is always wise for those criticizing her words to stay away from attacking her person. Most of the SDA posters here cannot comprehend that fine line I am drawing, but it is not wrong to criticize what she did because it is history and cannot be deleted. Calling her nasty names is a very poor apologetic.