A woman who was nearly sectioned because of her hallucinations actually had a rare condition which caused her immune system to attack her brain.
Lucy Evans started having delusions in June 2017, which caused her to leave more than 25 messages on her then-boyfriend's phone saying they had to break up because she is a monkey and needs to go back to the zoo.
Medics threatened to admit her to a psychiatric hospital for her own good when she began running down main roads and barging into neighbours' homes.
Six weeks later, the now 20-year-old was finally diagnosed with the brain inflammation condition encephalitis and treated at Morriston Hospital in Cwmrhydyceirw, Swansea.
Two years on, she still battles extreme fatigue which often leaves her in bed all day and means she struggles to walk.
Lucy Evans was nearly sectioned over her hallucinations until doctors discovered a rare condition was causing her immune system to attack her brain. Pictured left, shortly after being diagnosed with encephalitis, Ms Evans would even run down main roads. Steroid treatment caused her to gain 5st (32kg). She is pictured right yesterday with her new boyfriend
Encephalitis affects up to 6,000 people every year in the UK and potentially hundreds of thousands worldwide, according to Encephalitis Society statistics.
It is defined as inflammation of the brain, which can be caused by an infection invading the vital organ or a person's immune system mistakenly attacking it.
Speaking of her hallucinations on BBC's flagship Victoria Derbyshire show, Ms Evans said: 'I used to put a French plait in my hair and I thought I was a dinosaur, and it was like a dinosaur tail.
'I thought I was a monkey so my relationship [with my then-boyfriend] needed to be over because I was going back to the zoo.'
Although back at home, Ms Evans expressed her frustration at how 'everyone assumes she's fine', when she still suffers the effects of encephalitis every day.
She also blames the delay in her diagnosis for the treatment side effects she experienced.
Due to Ms Evans' condition only being spotted once severe, multiple therapies failed to help, with her eventually being given the 'toxic' chemotherapy-drug rituximab, which caused her to lose her hair.
