Brain on Fire: my month of madness
Author:
Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language:
English
Description
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 in 2009, twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a strange hospital room, strapped to her bed, under guard, and unable to move or speak. A wristband marked her as a “flight risk,” and her medical records—chronicling a month-long hospital stay of which she had no memory at all—showed hallucinations, violence, and dangerous instability. Only weeks earlier, Susannah had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: a healthy, ambitious college grad a few months into her first serious relationship and a promising career as a cub reporter at a major New York newspaper. Who was the stranger who had taken over her body? What was happening to her mind? In this swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her inexplicable descent into madness and the brilliant, lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen. A team of doctors would spend a month—and more than a million dollars—trying desperately to pin down a medical explanation for what had gone wrong. Meanwhile, as the days passed and her family, boyfriend, and friends helplessly stood watch by her bed, she began to move inexorably through psychosis into catatonia and, ultimately, toward death. Yet even as this period nearly tore her family apart, it offered an extraordinary testament to their faith in Susannah and their refusal to let her go. Then, at the last minute, celebrated neurologist Souhel Najjar joined her team and, with the help of a lucky, ingenious test, saved her life. He recognized the symptoms of a newly discovered autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the brain, a disease now thought to be tied to both schizophrenia and autism, and perhaps the root of “demonic possessions” throughout history. Far more than simply a riveting read and a crackling medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity and to rediscover herself among the fragments left behind. Using all her considerable journalistic skills, and building from hospital records and surveillance video, interviews with family and friends, and excerpts from the deeply moving journal her father kept during her illness, Susannah pieces together the story of her “lost month” to write an unforgettable memoir about memory and identity, faith and love. It is an important, profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic.
Subjects
Subjects
Audiobooks -- Unabridged
Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Biography & Autobiography
Cahalan, Susannah
Cahalan, Susannah -- Health
Cahalan, Susannah -- Mental health
Diagnostic errors
Diagnostic errors -- United States -- Case studies
Diseases
Encephalitis
Encephalitis -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Frontal lobes
Frontal lobes -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Health
Limbic system
Limbic system -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Medical
Mental health
Nonfiction
Patients
Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Biography & Autobiography
Cahalan, Susannah
Cahalan, Susannah -- Health
Cahalan, Susannah -- Mental health
Diagnostic errors
Diagnostic errors -- United States -- Case studies
Diseases
Encephalitis
Encephalitis -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Frontal lobes
Frontal lobes -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Health
Limbic system
Limbic system -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography
Medical
Mental health
Nonfiction
Patients
More Details
Contributors:
Henderson, Heather. Narrator
ISBN:
9781611749786
9781451621396
9781451621396
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | f7c5a5cd-42d1-e793-0e7f-39a5e594d888 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | brain on fire my month of madness |
Grouping Author | susannah cahalan |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2021-01-15 04:51:35AM |
Last Indexed | 2021-01-15 05:06:30AM |
Novelist Primary ISBN | 9781451621372 |
Solr Details
accelerated_reader_point_value | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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accelerated_reader_reading_level | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
auth_author2 | Henderson, Heather. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author | Cahalan, Susannah. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author2-role | Henderson, Heather.|Narrator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author_display | Cahalan, Susannah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
available_at_addison | Addison Public Library | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
collection_addison | Adults | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
detailed_location_addison | 2nd Floor- Adult Audio Books Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
display_description | NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CHLOË GRACE MORETZ An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman's struggle to recapture her identity. When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she'd gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened? In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family's inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn't happen. "A fascinating look at the disease that...could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life" (People), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_addison | Book on CD eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_category_addison | Audio Books eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
id | f7c5a5cd-42d1-e793-0e7f-39a5e594d888 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
isbn | 9781451621396 9781611749786 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
item_details
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itype_addison | Audiobook on CD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
last_indexed | 2021-01-15T11:06:30.174Z | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
lexile_score | -1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form_full | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
local_callnumber_addison | AUDIO BOOK 616.832 CAH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_library_addison | Addison Public Library | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_location_addison | Addison Public Library | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
primary_isbn | 9781611749786 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publishDate | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
record_details
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recordtype | grouped_work | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
scoping_details_addison
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subject_facet | Audiobooks -- Unabridged Autoimmune diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography Cahalan, Susannah -- Health Cahalan, Susannah -- Mental health Diagnostic errors -- United States -- Case studies Encephalitis -- Patients -- United States -- Biography Frontal lobes -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography Limbic system -- Diseases -- Patients -- United States -- Biography | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_display | Brain on Fire My Month of Madness | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_full | Brain on Fire My Month of Madness Brain on fire [sound recording] : my month of madness / Susannah Cahalan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_short | Brain on Fire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_sub | my month of madness | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
topic_facet | Autoimmune diseases Biography & Autobiography Cahalan, Susannah Diagnostic errors Diseases Encephalitis Frontal lobes Health Limbic system Medical Mental health Nonfiction Patients |