Brain on fire : my month of madness
(Book)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published
New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.
ISBN
9781451621389, 9780606356695, 060635669X, 1451621388, 9781476754383, 1476754381
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Blue Island Public Library - Stacks616.832 CAHOn Shelf
Calumet City Public Library - Nonfiction616.832 CAHOn Shelf
Cicero Public Library - Stacks616.832 CAHBeing transferred between libraries
Downers Grove Public Library - 2nd Floor - Adult616.832 CAHOn Shelf
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More Details

Published
New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.
Format
Book
Physical Desc
xiv, 266 pages, 7 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9781451621389, 9780606356695, 060635669X, 1451621388, 9781476754383, 1476754381
UPC
9781451621389

Notes

General Note
"With a new afterword"--Cover.
General Note
Includes discussion questions (pages [270-272]).
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-261).
Description
One day in 2009, twenty-four-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 monthlong 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 narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her inexplicable descent into madness and the 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, 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. This story 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.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Cahalan, S. (2013). Brain on fire: my month of madness (First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition.). Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Cahalan, Susannah. 2013. Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Cahalan, Susannah. Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Cahalan, Susannah. Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition., Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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