Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

by Susannah Cahalan (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 8,279 ratings · 1,299 reviews

A gripping memoir and medical suspense story about a young New York Post reporter’s struggle with a rare and terrifying disease, opening a new window into the fascinating world of brain science.

One day, Susannah Cahalan woke up in a strange hospital room, strapped to her bed, under guard, and unable to move or speak. Her medical records—from a month-long hospital stay of w...more

Hardcover, 264 pages

Published November 13th 2012 by Free Press

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft

Madness Real and Imagined

1st out of 24 books — 16 voters

The Invention of Religion by Alexander Drake

The Invention of Christianity by Alexander Drake

Most Engaging Scientific Nonfiction

18th out of 102 books — 102 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 12, 2012 Will Byrnes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jim McCasland

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology-and-the-brain

Susannah Cahalan, a young journalist working at a great (ok not so great, kinda schlocky actually) metropolitan newspaper, suddenly notices things going awry. She starts having episodes of paranoia, becomes hypersensitive to sound, light and cold. She suffers from loss of appetite and begins having out-of-body experiences and wild mood swings. A tour of New York psych and neuro pros did not yield much more than a suspicion that she had been partying too hard. On the other hand, grand mal seizure...more Susannah Cahalan, a young journalist working at a great (ok not so great, kinda schlocky actually) metropolitan newspaper, suddenly notices things going awry. She starts having episodes of paranoia, becomes hypersensitive to sound, light and cold. She suffers from loss of appetite and begins having out-of-body experiences and wild mood swings. A tour of New York psych and neuro pros did not yield much more than a suspicion that she had been partying too hard. On the other hand, grand mal seizures can be so convincing.

Cahalan’s is a tale of survival. It is amazing, in the 21st century, how much we do not know about the human brain. Maybe the Star Trek people were wrong. Maybe the brain is the real final frontier. It sure seems like a lot of the weapons being used today are as old fashioned as spears and tomahawks. It is Cahalan’s journey through this hostile environment that is one of the main foci here. She was diagnosed by serious professionals as having partied too hard, as being bipolar, schizophrenic, psychotic and probably a few more fun things from the DRG manual.

Her story is almost like a mystery, with clues, red herrings, suspects, good guys and bad…well, there are not really any bad guys, just uninformed medical pros. Good guys include a bf made of solid gold, and several of the docs who look into her odd case. Dad stands pretty tall as well.

One way you can tell the pioneers is by the arrows in their backs. In terms of what Cahalan is finally diagnosed with it is clear that many of those pioneers did not survive. There is a point in the progress of this particular disease (yes, they do find what ails her) beyond which the damage is too severe to step back. Cahalan comes through, damaged but recovering.

So what are we to make of all this? Cahalan’s is definitely a story that comes from the heart. She had to struggle to reconstruct events from her life, events for which she was present, in which she was even an actor, but events for which she retained no memory. Scary stuff. Her journey through the medical Indian territory was frightening and her arrival at Fort Diagnosis was uplifting. We learn something new about the world and the information has implications for a wide swath of maladies. Might it be that many who are diagnosed with autism, say, or schizophrenia, might have a treatable, biological, as opposed to psychological, disease? It might. Consider your horizon expanded.

There is a smattering of science in the book, maybe not enough for my taste, but certainly not too much, and what is there is simple and understandable, even for those of us whose medical expertise stops where the rules of Milton Bradley’s Operation end.

One crucial element here is the personality of the narrator. How we feel about Cahalan can affect our reaction to the book overall. Here we run into bit of a teratoma. I did not feel much for this particular person. While she is certainly bright, and writes well, I got the impression that she was not exactly the best possible human being. During one of her episodes, Cahalan threw repeated fits in a car, while with her family. It was like a spoiled child on steroids and meth. It is an appalling scene, yet seriously mitigated by the fact that this person is not well. However, it does make one wonder about how the manifestations of this disease reflect the underlying person. Her mother later recounts:

“Oh, and you were totally nuts. You walked into a restaurant and demanded food. Just demanded it. Although I guess it’s not too far outside your normal personality.”

Sorry, but it is tough to root real hard for such a person. Cahalan does offer a bit of perspective, with info on some other people who have been diagnosed with her disease. But there was nothing there indicating a correlation, or not, between disease-driven behavior and the personality of the sufferer. I suppose it should not matter. Even obnoxious people do not deserve such slings and arrows.

One aspect of this disease is that it can seriously impair memory, removing some that are there, and making it difficult to impossible to form new ones. Even though I was not all that taken with Miss Cahalan as a person, she is a good writer with a fascinating tale to tell, one with implications far beyond her personal journey. I will not soon forget it.

P.S.
Teratoma – the reason for using that particular word is that many sufferers of Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis often have had such tumors prior to onset of the disease. CS did not. I fearlessly cut and pasted the ff from Wikipedia - A teratoma is an encapsulated tumor with tissue or organ components resembling normal derivatives of all three germ layers. The tissues of a teratoma, although normal in themselves, may be quite different from surrounding tissues and may be highly disparate; teratomas have been reported to contain hair, teeth, bone and, very rarely, more complex organs such as eyes,[1][2] torso,[3][4] and hands, feet, or other limbs.
(less)

37 likes · like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I rarely read memoirs. Too often the author spends far too much time painting themselves in the best possible light and/or justifying their behavior. It is a rare and gifted author that can objectively describe a personal event without infusing it with strong emotions.

Perhaps Susannah was able to accomplish this huge feat due to the simple fact that she was unaware of herself much of the time that her brain was inflamed. She begins with the first noticeable symptom; a couple of bed bug bites tha...more I rarely read memoirs. Too often the author spends far too much time painting themselves in the best possible light and/or justifying their behavior. It is a rare and gifted author that can objectively describe a personal event without infusing it with strong emotions.

Perhaps Susannah was able to accomplish this huge feat due to the simple fact that she was unaware of herself much of the time that her brain was inflamed. She begins with the first noticeable symptom; a couple of bed bug bites that were probably hallucinations and escalates from there. Some of it remembers in bits and pieces right up until her major seizure which wasn't a pretty picture, nor did she try to paint it as such. Rushed to the hospital, her mind is blank for the next month until she is correctly diagnosed and begins the slow healing process.

I found Susannah's story absolutely fascinating. She fairly balances her experiences with simple medical terminology, cites doctors notes and tries to piece together a chronological picture of her sickness, interactions with those who love her, and hospital video. She describes her intense and insane mindset without previously establishing her basic personality. This is an excellent strategy as her writing style and brief "normal" clearly defines her as an intelligent and engaging young woman. The fact that she is confident enough to allow the reader to arrive at this conclusion endeared her to me all the more by trusting the reader.

Although I recoil when an author writes a book with an agenda, Susannah's agenda is simply awareness of the possibility that mental illness can be physiological in nature, caused by a virus or bacteria, changing the personality of a person to such an extreme that mental illness is diagnosed and the person spends the rest of her life in an institution. Susannah was greatly blessed by intersecting with a doctor who had recently made the discovery of this malady.

It's an amazing story and Susannah is an extremely gifted writer. This reader was stunned to do the math on Susannah's age. She was 24 when she fell victim to this illness and no more than 27 or 28 when she reconstructed the time period and wrote the book. I can't wait to see what else she publishes.(less)

27 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2013 Claire McAlpine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

A fascinating insight into a rare autoimmune disease which causes the body to attack itself and in this case - the brain. This truly is a story that can (and has) change lives, the writer, a reporter on the New York Post observes her own physical and mental decline and then as her mind descends into chaos, she recalls nothing. Her account is pulled together from interviews, hospital video footage and the journal of her family, until her brain begins to regenerate memory.

It's the path that many f...more A fascinating insight into a rare autoimmune disease which causes the body to attack itself and in this case - the brain. This truly is a story that can (and has) change lives, the writer, a reporter on the New York Post observes her own physical and mental decline and then as her mind descends into chaos, she recalls nothing. Her account is pulled together from interviews, hospital video footage and the journal of her family, until her brain begins to regenerate memory.

It's the path that many follow who end up spending the rest of their lives in an institution, if they actually survive it. Susannah Cahalan, with the help of a supportive and determined family who won't give up until they find a diagnosis, is fortunate to be seen by the brilliant Dr Najjar, and one final test later, a simple pen and paper exercise, leads him to the all important diagnosis and her to eventual recovery.

Before writing this book, the author wrote an article for her paper about her experience, which prompted an overwhelming response and outpouring from many others who had a family member suffering from or suddenly hit by an inexplicable brain disease - her case highlights the very real possibility that there are thousands if not more people out there descending into the same madness, but with less chance of recovery.

Her story reminds me of 'A Stroke of Insight' the extraordinary story of the brain scientist, Jill Taylor's experience when at 37 years a blood vessel exploded in her brain and she too observed her mind deteriorate to the point where she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. She also recovered and used her incredible insight and knowledge to share that experience with the world - creating an important resource for the sufferers and carers of stroke victims.

It's a gripping unputdownable story and shows how little we really know about how the brain works and how difficult it is to diagnose, but its thanks to books like this that more diagnoses are being made and sufferers can find the right path to recovery.

Complete review can be read at Word by Word.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Rnh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I personally feel that this book embraced both fear and courage. Being a medical student myself, i wonder how the patients cope with their suffering and how it pains the family members more than anything. But it is also soothing to know that the doctors and the supportive staffs are giving their best to help whatever they can. It is a wonderful read; from beginning to end. I feel inspired to be better, and motivated to fill my purpose in the future. I'm sure it took a lot of courage to muster an...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2013 Eve rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013, favorites

I cannot figure out why it is so difficult for me to write reviews for books I am passionate about, or which I loved! In looking back at the books I've read on goodreads.com, I realized that almost all of the highest rated books on my shelves have 2 sentence reviews, if any. I guess that's why it's taken a month to figure out what exactly I want to say about Brain on Fire, a medical memoir by journalist Susannah Cahalan.

Where do I begin?! Cahalan develops a mysterious illness over the course of...more I cannot figure out why it is so difficult for me to write reviews for books I am passionate about, or which I loved! In looking back at the books I've read on goodreads.com, I realized that almost all of the highest rated books on my shelves have 2 sentence reviews, if any. I guess that's why it's taken a month to figure out what exactly I want to say about Brain on Fire, a medical memoir by journalist Susannah Cahalan.

Where do I begin?! Cahalan develops a mysterious illness over the course of 2 months, which leads to an extended stay in NYU's Epileptic ward. Exhibiting symptoms of extreme psychosis and catatonia, her family and close friends' loyalty is put to the test as they seek answers and a cure for Cahalan's rapidly escalating condition.

One aspect of this book that I think is unique is that at the height of her illness, Cahalan loses her memory, and as a result has no recollection of her experiences, including her recovery. As a journalist, she pieces together the events leading up to her illness and it's aftermath by interviewing her family, friends, and doctors. NYU's research environment also provided much material by way of extensive notes and videos.

It's hard not to have affection for Susannah. I wish I could meet her. I so appreciate her sharing her story, especially when by doing so she exposed a side of herself that was not flattering. She writes:
“We are, in the end, a sum of our parts, and when the body fails, all the virtues we hold dear go with it.” How true that is! Especially is this the case when either our or a loved one's body is ravaged by a disease. The "real person" is still there, but it can get so muddled up, and be so discouraging to witness.

I also appreciated the attention she drew to finding a diagnosis. I would have never believed how hard it is to "get well" unless I'd seen it with my own eyes. I am not sure if as a whole, society is desensitized to death, or if our view on life expectancy and the quality of life has diminished. At any rate, it seems as though doctors today don't think twice about sending you home to die, or suffer through whatever ailment you have. You have to fight for answers, persistently ask for a second opinion, and have darn good medical insurance coverage. What about those that fall through the cracks of that system? Cahalan happened to be at the right place, at the right time. So many others with her condition were misdiagnosed, and essentially sent home to die. It's disconcerting, but I am sure it happens so much on a daily basis.

If you're interested in reading this book, it's on sale for Kindle readers for $2.99 for the month of April. I was so entranced, I think I read it in 24 hours. I also felt the need to talk about it every chance I got! It's a great read. Check out her interview here on goodreads if I've piqued your interest. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2013 Nenia Campbell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2012s, arc-stands-for-a-readers-xmas, beautiful-words-lets-swim-in-them, first-reads, you-did-whaaaaat, memoir, psychology-and-the-brain

A normal, happy, healthy woman with a cool job and the perfect boyfriend loses her mind after getting what appear to be two bedbug bites on one of her arms. It sounds like a real-life episode of House M.D., and that's exactly what it is.

Susannah Cahalan flummoxed some of the best neurosurgeons in the country with her deteriorating autonomic system, seizures, and symptoms of psychosis, receiving diagnoses ranging from schizoeffective to bipolar. Especially when neurological tests, blood tests, an...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Gary Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brain on Fire is New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan’s gripping memoir about her horrific experience with a rare brain inflammation. The attack first manifested itself behaviorally—hallucinations, impulsive actions, anxiety—so Cahalan’s case was misunderstood and misdiagnosed as mental illness. After descending into a nearly catatonic state, a brilliant doctor correctly diagnosed Cahalan’s affliction as anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. In simpler terms, Cahalan’s autoimmune system...more Brain on Fire is New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan’s gripping memoir about her horrific experience with a rare brain inflammation. The attack first manifested itself behaviorally—hallucinations, impulsive actions, anxiety—so Cahalan’s case was misunderstood and misdiagnosed as mental illness. After descending into a nearly catatonic state, a brilliant doctor correctly diagnosed Cahalan’s affliction as anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. In simpler terms, Cahalan’s autoimmune system attacked her brain for no known reason.

Although Brain on Fire necessarily has some science in it, the narrative is strong and compelling. Short chapters, intense scenes, and Cahalan’s own stubborn spirit move the story forward with dramatic energy. My own memories of a family member’s recent serious illness are still fresh in my mind, so Cahalan’s description of medical misdiagnoses, hospital staffers, in-home nursing care, and pharmaceutical side effects ring chillingly true.

Through the use of her parents’ journals, hospital videotapes, and medical records, Cahalan takes readers through the process of reconstructing events that she doesn’t remember. Because Cahalan emerged from her illness and wrote the book, it isn’t really a spoiler to say that Brain on Fire has a more or less happy ending. Although patients with susceptible autoimmune systems have no guarantees against relapse, Cahalan is thankfully able to share her story.

Near the end of Brain on Fire, she wonders how many of those suffering from anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis are misdiagnosed and treated as hopelessly mentally ill. Cahalan questions whether some of those diagnosed with autism are actually suffering from some sort of serious but treatable brain inflammation.

The heroes in Brain on Fire are Cahalan’s supportive family, friends, and colleagues, as well as the doctors who keep asking questions and searching for answers when others gave up or gave in to convenient but inaccurate theories about her illness. Although she downplays her own heroism, it’s easy to admire Cahalan for not giving up on herself, and for the unflinching way she shares deeply personal fears and physical frailties.

Cross-posted on What's Not Wrong?(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Autumn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, autobiography, health, medical, kindle-books, books-i-own, books-read-in-2013

I cannot describe how amazing I thought this book was. When I told my mother about it she said, "And this is fiction?" When I let her know this was a true story she said, "Are you serious?" The fascinating and scary thought is that yes, this is a true story, and that our amazing and mysterious bodies has the capability to attack itself without warning is frightening. I found this to be scientific but not boring. Full of suspense without being "dramatic." If I was able to have done so, I would ha...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2013 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: word-of-mouth, 2013, indie-next-list

What a well written book. This story of Susannah Cahalan - month of her brain literally on fire and the steps it took for a true diagnosis and recovery. Never once did she make me feel sorry for her or overwhelm me with medical jargon. Her story is fascinating.

On the inside cover I thought this was very succinct and well said,

"Far more than simply a riveting read and a medical mystery. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness is the powerful account of one woman's struggle to recapture her identity a...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Debbie Wilson rated it 4 of 5 stars

An incredible read into a rare autoimmune disorder involving the brain. I could not put it down. I felt I was right there with the author/ patient from the beginning. Really makes me think about why our bodies are attacking themselves so frequency these days, with most being attributed to the environment.

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Craig Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really interesting stuff. Brings me back to my days as a psychology grad student. Incredible that a virus could have this effect on someone.

2 likes · like · see review

Ann My daughter died last year after spending a week in the hospital for pneumonia. She had suffered from a mental illness (it manifested behaviours that...more My daughter died last year after spending a week in the hospital for pneumonia. She had suffered from a mental illness (it manifested behaviours that sometimes resembled Susannah's), and self medication on top of her other meds, with alcohol. After a couple of days on steroids (as I'm now suggesting) in the hospital her mind cleared up and she appeared to be able to think and behave like her old self. She made an entry in a journal/notebook that read like her old self, about going back to school, getting busy, etc. She had been sick and fighting this for over 20 years. Yet this part of her still existed. Feeling well, and wanting to handle this herself, she talked the doctors into letting her go home on a Sunday. She promised not to drink. (She was still clear.) A week after her return she died in my arms - her illness and symptoms returned during that week.
When I finished reading this book I slowly realized that though she did not suffer from the disease Susannah C had, surely there was something that was keeping her brain severely inflamed.
No one made this connection the week she was in the hospital. My thought was that the rest and lack of stress caused her to relax and removed the excess cortisol from her system, etc. After all these years how could I have been blind to the effect of the steroids? or whatever she was given in the hospital? I don't know. But, it's pretty clear that something at the hospital gave us a very short, blessed time of clarity with her - that wonderful, optimistic personality that was so great.
Whatever she had, seemed to turn her into a wild, rude, angry, sometimes remorseful, wise, and totally different person from who she was when she became ill. I am so grateful to understand this possibility now. That understanding though is contributing to a very difficult week. I am angry, sad, relieved, puzzled and so aware that the doctors do NOT really know what they are doing. They are just doing their best! Her alcoholism was covering and contributing this awful condition she lived with, and died with. I am smart - but I don't know what to think and how to process all this and help others - and I hope that this book opens the doors to new approaches to the treatment of these symptoms of "mental illness."
I remember the doctor who performed her autopsy told me very puzzled and his assistant said it all looked strange to her but did not explain much. Perhaps they were noticing anomalies that they could not explain? Her brain looked very normal to him.
She died Dec 12 2011. I had just walked in the door and we sat together just maybe half a minute when she leaned over and then sat up and abruptly slumped onto my shoulder again. I thought she had just relaxed but when she didn't respond I looked into her eyes and they were rolled back into her head. Called 911 - they delayed coming into the house - they had been theer that morning and I guess she had sent them away. Though the autopsy showed her lungs full of liquid so her oxygen levels were extremely low, they somehow did not pick up the fatal connection just a few hours earlier. So this information will not be able to help her - but perhaps others will regain their lives.
I supported and believed in my daughter for these 20 years of her illness. She was "in there." The one med that helped her, clozapine, was removed after she left the psych hospital several years ago so she could still survive on the streets if necessary since she said she still wanted to drink. Because she was overmedicated once this anti-psychotic started working and they couldn't keep her at the hospital till the balanced all the meds and helped her incontinence and dizziness, once she got home, she refused to stay on the clozapine. Her clarity and original personality disappeared with the removal of that medicine.
All to say - take this seriously - we may have a new opening to healing some of the mental illness puzzles that are so difficult!! What more can I say? Probably a lot but I need to settle down a bit and really try to pull the pieces apart - all the issues, etc.(less)
Nov 19, 2012 01:55pm

Carla Coulston Hi Ann, I just wanted to say it's a pity your fascinating story is hidden here under Craig's review... you should repost it as a seperate review, peop...more
Jan 03, 2013 02:22pm

Jan 09, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

An unbelievable account written by a fantastic journalist. The story felt so close, I choked back tears reading about how this woman's affliction affected her and those who loved her.

2 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2013 Diane C. rated it 4 of 5 stars

With absolute honesty and dog-with-a-bone journalistic skills at hand, Susannah Cahalan pieces together (as she can't remember alot of it while she was so sick) and writes about her journey through a terrifying auto-immune enchepalitis. The mild disorientation at the beginning, then down the rabbit hole of madness, paranoia, hallucinations and a stumped medical community. Until, very luckily, an NYU doctor,Souhel Najjar, diagnoses her actual problem.

The autoimmune system goes on the attack again...more

like · see review

May 13, 2013 Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scarier than the threat of a terrorist's attack, and more likely to occur is an elusive, weird, rare diseases. Like everything else in science, the more we learn, the more we realize we know so very little. Every time I read one of these stories I think: there but for random luck and good fortune go I.

In this case, a beautiful young journalist, working at the time for the " New York Post", suddenly falls ill, behaving completely inappropriately, acting out impulsively, and then having unexplain...more

like · see review

May 06, 2013 Debra Lowman rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a story! Cahalan had an undiagnosed/misdiagnosed autoimmune disease that caused psychological symptoms to the point that she is misdiagnosed as having several types of mental illness and, almost, her death. Her courageous battle to hang onto her sanity and her life is amazing. That said, I do have to say that this memoir is unique, in my opinion, in that Cahalan is not looking for your sympathy necessarily. In truth, I'm not so sure she was a great human being all of the time. I think she i...more

like · see review

May 06, 2013 J.L. Dobias rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone should read this

Shelves: book-shelf-11

Brain on Fire:My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

This book scared the daylights out of me.

There are so many parts of the breakdown here that read like regular parts of life.

I quickly come to a realization that this is the reason to surround ourselves with friends who know us(well). People who can constantly act as that check in life that asks "Are you okay?"

Sure we can ask ourselves that question as much as we want but it really helps to have someone around who can tell us that we are alrigh...more

like · see review

May 03, 2013 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

My three-star rating is going to seem inconsistent with this review, because this was a truly fascinating read.

Susannah Cahalan, a reporter for the New York Post, thought she was losing her mind. It started as quirks and mood swings, but quickly devolved into her waking up hospitalized with no recollection of several weeks of her life. As it turned out, Susannah had experienced a rare autoimmune inflammation in her brain; once she was properly diagnosed, she recovered. This memoir is her attemp...more

like · see review

Apr 27, 2013 Laura Lawhon rated it 5 of 5 stars

As a kinesiotherapist working with patients who have suffered stroke and traumatic brain injury, I am well aware of how our bodies can betray us and leave one a prisoner of one's own physical existence. Susannah's story of an illness causing her body to attack her own brain is another version of brain injury. That she was able to recover and write so beautifully and in such an enthralling way about her experience is remarkable. At times her ability to relate her story is only due to others havin...more

like · see review

Apr 21, 2013 Rebecca Coleman rated it 5 of 5 stars

When a friend first brought this to my attention via my Facebook news feed, I downloaded it on Kindle within minutes. The story looked so compelling, and I was not disappointed. It is a fast-moving, engagingly written story of the author's sudden-onset psychosis, along with seizures while she was working as a successful young journalist at the New York Post. Susannah comes across as a very likable, energetic person, and you can really feel her confusion and fear as she tumbles into madness throu...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 16, 2013 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

An absolutely unforgettable memoir. Brain on Fire tells the harrowing account of New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan as she revisits the months that led to her bizarre autoimmune illness and the slow recovery to return to herself.

While this novel did go to into a lot of medical terminology and description, it was entirely necessary and very easy to comprehend. I found it completely suspenseful as I traveled along the path of diagnostics with Susannah. From the initial stages of the disease,...more An absolutely unforgettable memoir. Brain on Fire tells the harrowing account of New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan as she revisits the months that led to her bizarre autoimmune illness and the slow recovery to return to herself.

While this novel did go to into a lot of medical terminology and description, it was entirely necessary and very easy to comprehend. I found it completely suspenseful as I traveled along the path of diagnostics with Susannah. From the initial stages of the disease, Susannah was plagued with bouts of paranoia, confusion, hostility, and a host of other symptoms. It was frightening how quickly the mental illness diagnosis was given time and time again. After she is admitted to the epilepsy floor of NYU hospital, she is on the brink of being committed to a psychiatric ward until her illness morphs into unexplainable physical symptoms. Her seizures and hallucinations eventually evolved into an overall physical deterioration until Susannah resembled someone with Parkinson’s disease. It took the brilliance of Dr. Najjar and the research of Dr. Dalmau to diagnose Susannah with the rare autoimmune disorder called anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis where her own body is literally attacking her brain. The last third of the memoir details Susannah’s slow recovery in returning to a new version of herself and sharing her story with others.

Susannah’s story opened my eyes to the quick judgment that so many health practitioners make in diagnosing. As someone who works in the healthcare field, I know how easily it is to become jaded by a person’s symptoms. Her account was a reminder to the critical need for more time spent with patients to allow for more thorough examinations. It is sickening to think of the number of falsely diagnosed patients given the label of mental illness when it in fact could be something else.

I think that Susannah was very lucky in the incredible support she had from her parents and boyfriend. From Stephen’s devotion and the calmness he provided to her father’s immeasurable love for the health and sanity of his daughter, Susannah had a strong support system. I often wondered while reading her story that if her parents had not of been so persistent and devoted in her case, would the doctors have given up sooner? Would she have been committed? My hope is no. Though I wish I felt that with stronger regard.

What I loved so much about this memoir is rawness that I felt while reading her story. It was written in a way that I felt haunted after each page reading how this woman became lost in her mind and trapped in her body. I ached for the person she felt she lost, the moments she will never remember, and the very realization that her disorder may return. I think her story is insanely terrifying, not for fear of acquiring the same disorder, but the very real possibility that at a moment’s notice our sanity can crumble. It is a reminder of how we are all so vulnerable and fragile to these bodies of ours that at one point will turn on us in one way or another. It is the realization that our sanity can be fleeting to depths beyond medical control. And yet despite all of these nightmarish realizations, I am so happy that Susannah shared her story with the world. She saved the lives of others and opened a door in the field of neurology that desperately needed attention. Her story is unforgettable as it is compelling and should be read.(less)

like · see review

Apr 15, 2013 Siew-Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful, wonderful book.

I'm a neurologist, and it's amazing to see a book written from a patient's perspective, especially one with a such a good outcome. The book progresses from the starting of the disease process and right up to the recovery stage. It's unnerving to read about the psychotic episodes, the complex partial seizures, the generalised seizures and ultimately, the catatonia. It must have been very frightening for both the author and her loved ones to witness all of those events u...more Wonderful, wonderful book.

I'm a neurologist, and it's amazing to see a book written from a patient's perspective, especially one with a such a good outcome. The book progresses from the starting of the disease process and right up to the recovery stage. It's unnerving to read about the psychotic episodes, the complex partial seizures, the generalised seizures and ultimately, the catatonia. It must have been very frightening for both the author and her loved ones to witness all of those events unfolding.

Scientifically, the book is well-researched, and I love how the medicals terms are explained without jargons. I particularly love the part where the author describes how IVIGs are produced.

That being said, I doubt the significance of the visual neglect as shown with the clock face drawing, and it was written as if the visual neglect led to the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis. I guess, perhaps, the visual neglect counts as 'focal neurology' -- hard evidence that something's wrong with the 'hardware' i.e. the brain, and that would have prompted the doctors to look harder for an organic cause of the psychosis and hallucinations.

This book truly highlights that doctors should always be aware that there are organic possibilities to consider before bouncing so-called psychotic episodes over to the psychiatrist. I truly hope that the thousands and thousands of patients with NMDA-R antibody encephalitis and their relatives would find comfort in this book, and that they come across brilliant and compassionate neurologists who would champion their plight. On the final note, I'm glad for all the wonderful work that Dr Dalmau has done in the field of autoimmune encephalitis, and the author's recovery is testament to how well patients with the same condition could fare. Without him and his group, many patients would have been locked up in a psychiatric hospital or a nursing home without any reprieve despite the fact that NMDA-R antibody encephalitis *is* a treatable condition.

P/S: I read the very same Lancet paper by Josef Dalmau when I was looking up on how to treat this disease, and I still pass the same abstract around when colleagues from other hospitals & specialties ask me about good papers to read regarding NMDA-R antibody encephalitis.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2013 Cindy Pauly delaurentis rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best books I have ever read!!
It has everything in it that I'm interested in...plus as having a rare autoimmune neurological disease myself I couldn't wait to read it! I bought it off Audible first & listened to it each night until I had finished it. Her writing is superior for a young New York Times reporter. As having growing up & working at a newspaper myself It drew me even more. Her research on this disease was outstanding! She took the difficult subject of the ne...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 04, 2013 Lois Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Cudos to the author, who suffered from an extremely rare and hitherto unknown disease, anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis, for making her ordeal, recovery, and information gleaned about this disease known to the world at large through her article about it in the NY Post, and this book, an expansion of her article. She suffered hallucinations, paranoia, partial seizures, migraines, nausea, and other common symptoms or precedents of temporal lobe seizures before having a full blown seizure...more Cudos to the author, who suffered from an extremely rare and hitherto unknown disease, anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis, for making her ordeal, recovery, and information gleaned about this disease known to the world at large through her article about it in the NY Post, and this book, an expansion of her article. She suffered hallucinations, paranoia, partial seizures, migraines, nausea, and other common symptoms or precedents of temporal lobe seizures before having a full blown seizure that got her admitted to at 24-hr EEG epilepsy ward at NYU Hospital. In NYU, she slowly devolved into almost-catatonia and zombie-like repetitive behaviors but was saved by the luck of getting a doctor who kept looking for a cause.

She has no first-person memory of the month that she was hospitalized. The EEG center ran videotape of every patient, some saved as part of the permanent hospital record, which was a big help, plus notes her family took,review of all the documents, interviews, and so on.

It's theorized that this disease is behind a percentage of diagnoses of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders. It's probably behind a lot of diagnoses of demonic possession in past history as well.

The fact that she was diagnosed at all was kind of a miracle. Dr. Josep (sic) Dalmau and Dr. Souhel Najjar found the cause and the cure. The first doctor she went to see, she went back to see after her recovery to ask what he thought of it now -- he had diagnosed her as stressed out about work and drinking too much wine -- and even after her case had been written up in every medical journal by then, that doctor was still completely unaware of it all.

Not for the first time, having means (she had a full time job with medical coverage and her family could afford to make up whatever her insurance didn't cover), and a family who could be on the scene at the hospital and advocate for her made a big difference.

It's a very readable book since it follows her particular case and then goes into the explanation. She's made what she thinks is probably a full recovery (how can she know for sure?), and families have written to her letting her know that her article saved their child's life.

It's a good reminder that weird behavior and strange personality changes are indicators to go see a doctor, tho' her first doctor was no help, it's true. She waited and waited to see one at all, as one might, because the odd symptoms were relapsing/remitting. This book makes the strong point to get to neurology rather than psychiatry.

(less)

like · see review

Mar 23, 2013 Tracy Simmons rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a psychology student, I spent a lot of time wondering if I would know (given all the interest I had and all the time I spent studying) if I myself were going crazy. Would I recognize if the thoughts going through my head weren't rational? Thankfully, I've never had the opportunity to answer this question, but Susannah Cahalan has.

Cahalan writes an amazing story about the experience of walking right up to the line of sanity and then, crossing over. Where her own memory fails her, she reconstru...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 21, 2013 Afton rated it 3 of 5 stars

I can't imagine how much courage writing and publishing this book wrote. I applaud Susannah for that alone!

This is truly a terrifying narrative. Losing such a grip on yourself is beyond my comprehension, though Susannah does her best to show us how that felt, how it still feels to know that happened. I was shuddering on more than one occasion. It's horrible, it's fascinating, it's illuminating.

The story is well crafted, I never feel like I'm "missing" something unless Susannah herself is missing...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Trike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, read-in-2013, science, medicine

A small percentage of autism and schizophrenia -- among other things -- might be the result of autoimmune disease. It's entirely possible that cases of demonic possession can likewise be attributed to inflammation caused by the body attacking the brain.

This book recounts the story of the author suffering from just such a mysterious disease. Dismissed as an alcoholic, diagnosed as an epileptic and a schizophrenic, when she was none of those things, Susannah Cahalan goes through an astonishing jou...more A small percentage of autism and schizophrenia -- among other things -- might be the result of autoimmune disease. It's entirely possible that cases of demonic possession can likewise be attributed to inflammation caused by the body attacking the brain.

This book recounts the story of the author suffering from just such a mysterious disease. Dismissed as an alcoholic, diagnosed as an epileptic and a schizophrenic, when she was none of those things, Susannah Cahalan goes through an astonishing journey into disease-caused madness. Only the dedication of good doctors brought her back.

It's quite interesting to read a story like this from the inside. The only real trouble is that she doesn't remember much of it, so she had to reconstruct what happened to her. Fortunately her father and mother each kept a journal and she had access to not only the doctors who treated her but also the video of her weeks-long hospital stay.

I found the scientific aspects of it excellent; less so the reconstructed memories, which I thought were unnecessary. It got to the point that I would simply skip the large blocks of italics, because that was Cahalan being artsy rather than journalistic. Someone else may find that stuff interesting, but I'm more about facts than after-the-fact feelings.

Fortunately, there are enough of the former to keep me interested throughout. The reason why this has four stars rather than three is contained in the passage I'm going to transcribe. (It's not a spoiler, because you already know she survived.)

"As I researched my article, I was curious to get the perspective of Dr. Bailey, the neurologist who has asserted that my problem stemmed from alcohol withdrawal and stress, to see what he thought about the ultimate diagnosis. When I reached him by phone, though, it turned out he still had never heard of the illness, even though my diagnosis had been discussed in almost every major medical journal, including the New England Journal of Medicine, and the New York Times.

"In the spring of 2009, I was the 217th person ever to be diagnosed with anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. Just a year later, that figure had doubled. Now the number is in the thousands. Yet Dr. Bailey, considered one of the best neurologists in the country, had never heard of it. When we live in a time when the rate of misdiagnoses has shown no improvement since the 1930s, the lesson here is that it’s important to always get a second opinion.

While he may be an excellent doctor in many respects, Dr. Bailey is also, in some ways, a perfect example of what is wrong with medicine. I was just a number to him (and if he saw thirty-five patients a day, as he told me, that means I was one of a very large number). He is a by-product of a defective system that forces neurologists to spend five minutes with X number of patients a day to maintain their bottom line. It’s a bad system. Dr. Bailey is not the exception to the rule. He is the rule.

"I’m the one who is an exception. I’m the one who is lucky. I did not slip through a system that is designed to miss cases just like my own – cases that require time and patience and individual attention. Sure, when I talked to him, I was shocked that he knew nothing about the disease, but that wasn’t the really shocking part; I realized now that my survival, my recovery – my ability to write this book – is the shocking part."

-- Susannah Cahalan, Brain On Fire: My Month Of Madness, p. 226-227

Cahalan pulls no punches with her own behavior, and vividly illustrates the pain and suffering her family, friends and boyfriend went through. I maintain that illness is always harder on the caregiver. The emotional cost is gigantic.

Recommended.(less)

like · see review

Feb 25, 2013 Hana Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brain on Fire is a medical mystery with the villain a microscopic bug and the good guys the entire field of medicine. It is the story of Susannah Cahalan, a 24-year-old journalist and her tale of survival from the effects of a newly discovered autoimmune disorder.

Ms. Cahalan’s experience as a writer makes this an excellent informative non- fiction book that reads with the excitement of a fiction novel. She pieces together a chronological picture of her sickness with simple medical terminology....more

like · see review

Feb 21, 2013 Sagagirl rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found this book troubling. Not because of the medical mystery -- that was the most interesting of all. It seems that the book would be better written in the third person, by someone other than the author/experiencer of the madness. By her own account, she cannot describe what it felt like to have her brain be on fire. The book says she uses journalistic techniques to piece together. And yet these tidbits drop in without much sense of how they were discovered (except for the case of the videota...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 20, 2013 Jen McLeod rated it 2 of 5 stars

You could probably call this a great piece of investigative reporting. Unfortunately for me, it was instead labelled as a memoir, leaving me feeling exasperated and mislead. I guess I was hoping for something akin to the more enjoyable memoirs that I've read (I'm thinking The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, or even Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, which is not so much memoir as it is fiction based on memoir - beside the point). This was more like an excruciatingly long newspaper article, ch...more You could probably call this a great piece of investigative reporting. Unfortunately for me, it was instead labelled as a memoir, leaving me feeling exasperated and mislead. I guess I was hoping for something akin to the more enjoyable memoirs that I've read (I'm thinking The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, or even Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, which is not so much memoir as it is fiction based on memoir - beside the point). This was more like an excruciatingly long newspaper article, chocked full of too much medical jargon and theory to be enjoyable. I was really hoping for something witty, funny, anecdotal, interspersed with childhood memories maybe. Instead, it's about the most linear, dully-written thing I've read in a very long time. The story (actually, it's more of a soulless recording of events) starts with the onset of symptoms - we have no context for what the writer was like prior to this event in her life, and thus lose some of the implied contrast. The lack of description in the book (I'm a big fan of Hemingway's iceberg theory, but it's based on the assumption that there is a common human experience on which one can infer things that are not written - having a completely debilitating brain disease is not a part of that common experience, thus we need things spelled out for us) leaves a big divide between writer and reader. One of the things that I was always told about good writing is that the writer should show rather than tell. This book is all telling.

Having just finished this (in a day and a half because I wanted to move on to something more enjoyable) I'm really confused by the 4.08 Goodreads rating. This means it's been set between "I loved it" and "it was amazing". That just seems like a really big stretch for me. The excess of sentence fragments alone should disqualify it from being anything above a 3-star rating. The book markedly lacks any sort of style or writer's voice. It's very...singular.

I noted down two sentence that I thought were a bit ridiculous and more or less summed up the whole book for me:

When speaking about her mother, "She was terrified of even hearing about cancer on the radio..." I think the writer meant that her mother became "terrified" when she heard about cancer on the radio. Otherwise, she is describing an irrational fear of the radio.

"...everyone around me struggled internally to keep the superficial flow of words going while also concentrating on ignoring the obvious pink elephant in the room: my shocking state." Problem words: internally, superficial, obvious, "my shocking state". What a horrid sentence.

I'm so glad to be finished this.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 19, 2013 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-biography-autobiography

I think I'd have liked this book a lot better if I hadn't been reading Andrew Solomon's "Far From the Tree" at the same time. Both books were interesting and informative. But Solomon writes like a prose poet, and Cahalan writes like a reporter for the New York Post, which she is. Not that there's anything wrong with being a reporter for the Post - but I might have appreciated her writing a lot more if I hadn't had such glorious prose in the book on my other side.

On to the book. Cahalan chronicle...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Bookworm Bitches : June 2013: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness	16	33	17 hours, 22 min ago
The Book Addicts!: Q2 2013 Non-Fiction Read: Brain on Fire	42	71	May 22, 2013 05:50am
The Book Addicts!: Brain on Fire...Slightly Dissappointing?	8	46	May 19, 2013 05:42am
Afterwords Books: Brain on Fire: Thoughts and Reviews	7	28	Mar 29, 2013 05:48am
Rise in autism and anti-NMDA	15	82	Mar 10, 2013 09:57am

combine
Other Editions (9)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

343 users

Autobiography > Memoir

212 users

Psychology

90 users

Biography

81 users

Science

62 users

Book Club

55 users

Medical

47 users

Biography Memoir

37 users

Health

29 users

Health > Medicine

23 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Susannah Cahalan

Susannah Cahalan is the New York Times bestselling author of "Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness," a memoir about her struggle with a rare autoimmune disease of the brain. She writes for the New York Post. Her work has also been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American Magazine, Glamour, Psychology Today, and others.

More about Susannah Cahalan...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Brain on Fire: My...

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Brain on Fire: My Mont...

“We are, in the end, a sum of our parts, and when the body fails, all the virtues we hold dear go with it.” — 20 people liked it

“Sometimes, Just when we need them, life wraps metaphors up in little bows for us. When you think all is lost, the things you need the most return unexpectedly.” — 15 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
avg rating	preview: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Goodreads rating: 3.95 (8279 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547180-brain-on-fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353173297l/13547180.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547180-brain-on-fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan[/url]

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website