I could not put this book down. Brain on Fire : My Month of
Madness by Susannah Cahalan is a shocking true story about the author’s
struggle with an unknown disease that makes a normal, healthy, successful 24-year-old woman go completely mad. It all starts off with Cahalan believing that
her apartment must be infested with bed bugs as she finds two suspicious red dots on her
arm resembling a bug bite. She starts to have flu-like symptoms, so she goes to
the doctor to see what is the matter with her. The bug bite disappears (was it
ever really there?), but she is plagued with some sort of ailment as she is
constantly unable to concentrate, feels dizzy and nauceous, and senses that one side
of her body is beginning to go numb. The doctor runs a series of tests and diagnoses her
with mononeucleosis. She feels relieved that she finally has a diagnosis for
what has been bringing her down, but even after this diagnosis, her symptoms
continue to worsen. She becomes paranoid, starts hearing voices and
hallucinating, and is completely unable to perform in her job as a writer for the New York
Post.
Others around her can sense a dramatic shift in her behavior, and feel that she might be going through some sort of nervous breakdown. But then she experiences a full-blown, frightening seizure and is admitted to the
hospital. There, a handful of doctors do a series of tests, but they all come
back negative. There is clearly something severely wrong with her as her functioning declines immensely each day, but she is not testing positive for any disease, so based on the
lab results she is a completely healthy person. Her parents fear that their beloved
daughter will never be the same, as her behavior and personal have taken a
drastic change. It is almost impossible
to have any kind of conversation with her as she has digressed into almost a
child like state, and it is very hard for her to speak or communicate in any
way. Although it seemed like a diagnosis and treatment would never come, her
family and boyfriend never gave up on her and it was quite touching to see how
people will perservere in even the harshest of circumstances.
Her story had such an impact on me because it made me
realize how quickly everything can change. Susannah Cahalan was one day a successful,
independent young woman working as a successful writer, and the next
day her life completely reversed, her brain was on fire and completely
revolted against her. Cahalan’s story of complete chaos and then ultimately survival was so moving
to read and I would highly encourage others to check out this book.
I listened to the audio of this for my book discussion group last year. I cannot begin to imagine how terrifying her experience must have been.
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