'Covid left me in a blacked out room, then I was put in a mental health unit'

A man was locked in a psychiatric ward and accused of being delusional after developing a terrifying condition he believes was triggered by Covid. Brandon Green’s symptoms included extreme sensitivity to light, hives and a range of allergies; he was eventually forced to spend 20 months living in a blacked-out room.

The 37-year-old contracted Covid in 2020 and says that he was not particularly ill - but the experience was strange. “The virus itself wasn’t too bad” Brandon says, “but it was weird. I could feel something in my brain. For weeks afterwards, my tongue would go numb, my foot would drop for a whole week, I couldn’t speak for hours. I’d blank out mid-conversation. It was like I couldn’t access my brain.”

The next sign that something was wrong was when he used a supermarket sunscreen on his face and had an unusual reaction. “By the end of the day, I was burnt all over,” he says. “And the following days and weeks, every time I would go out in the sun, I would feel intense burning.”

As time passed, Brandon’s symptoms worsened. He developed extreme sensitivity to sunlight that felt like being burned by a blowtorch, hives on his skin and a bizarre sensitivity to metal. “I couldn’t sleep on a mattress because the springs would burn me, so I just moved to the floor,” he explains.

He also developed an allergy to mould that left him struggling to breathe and severe sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation, which got worse week by week. By April 2022 he was forced to spend his days in a blacked out room with the curtains taped shut to ensure no light crept in. He was only able to venture out at night and jokes he lived for late night shopping on Thursdays.

Brandon was terrified but trips to the doctors left him feeling hopeless. “Doctors didn’t know what to do and kept saying I was making it up,” he said. “I once had a doctor laugh at me because I said I got relief from acupuncture.”

He was ill, exhausted and incredibly frustrated when events took a turn for the worse. Worried friends had contacted a psychiatrist who appeared at his door in 2023 to talk to him.

Later that night he had a phone call from the doctor, explaining that he thought he was suffering delusions and that a mental health team was on the way to assess him who then took him to a psychiatric ward.

“As soon as I arrived at the facility, I went out to the basketball court for fresh air, and saw a young guy trying to choke himself with his jumper, wrapping it around his neck and pulling on each end of it,” Brandon said. “I ran and told the nurse and security. By the time they arrived he’d stopped what he was doing, seen me dob on him and the nurse and security weren't impressed with me - explaining that he was fine. I later got a mouthful from the guy.”

Staff wanted to medicate him, but Brandon refused. “They told me I was delusional, that I had schizophrenia. They wanted to pump me full of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics. I was scared,” he said.

Locked up with patients with severe mental illness, his condition worsened and he was plagued with asthma attacks. “I kept thinking, this is a place for people with mental illness, but I’m here because they think I’m crazy when really I’m sick.”

After two days, he was allowed home, exhausted and bewildered - and with no answers about what was really wrong with him. A few months later there was finally progress.

Brandon’s doctor told him he had Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), a condition where immune cells overreact and release excessive chemical mediators. He was prescribed Mast Cell Stabilising drugs. There have been multiple reports of people developed MCAS after having Covid and a number of specialists believe that the condition can be triggered by the virus.

Over the next few weeks Brandon noticed gradual improvement and by December 2023 - after 20 months of living

in the dark - he was finally able to tolerate more light. “By Christmas Day I was fully out,” he says. “A true Christmas miracle.”

But despite significant improvements, he still struggles with debilitating symptoms that doctors are unable to explain. I want to get better. I want people to understand what I’ve been through,” he says.

“I’ve forgiven my friends and family; they were only trying to help. But I would hope the medical establishment would reflect on themselves and improve. We should be able to expect better from doctors and experts.”