This does not help the thousands of victims who were feared and mistreated for exhibiting the same behaviors, but moving forward, others will be helped. Since her 2009 diagnosis, there has been a dramatic breakthrough which has saved thousands more from death and from possible misguided treatment and experimental drugs. I do not want to give away the outcome, but after a slew of neurologists, psychiatrists, endocrinologists and other specialized physicians, as well as very expensive testing and a month long hospital stay, Cahalan becomes the 217th person diagnosed with this particular disorder. Her parents refused to be brushed aside and continued to hound the medical community for real answers. In Cahalan’s case, doctors submitted very easy diagnoses at first such as stress, alcoholism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and there were even links to autism. These behaviors have been the cause of countless life sentences into mental institutions throughout history. In some cases sufferers were deemed possessed by the devil and submitted to exorcism and the most extreme treatments. Cahalan’s symptoms and behaviors can be found in historical documents thousands of years old. Her boyfriend witnessed her “terrifying zombie moves” and others witnessed her subsequent paranoia, out of body experiences and other surprising attacks that you must read about for yourself. Her teeth clenched while her body alternately trembled and stiffened. She sat up in bed one night foaming at the mouth spewing blood while her arms stretched out before her “mummy” style. 'A fascinating look at the disease uld 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.In her non-fictional account, journalist Susannah Cahalan aptly describes how she suddenly developed behaviors that to all appearances were psychotic and demonic. 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. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. 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. 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.

Annotation: 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.

My brain on fire