In her memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Susannah Cahalan delves into the story of how her life spiraled down in regard to an inflammation of her brain. Cahalan discusses how it began and the rough journey she endured to return back to her old self. Through journals, friends, family, hospital records, and videos she was able to put together the plot of her rare diagnosis. At the beginning, Susannah was as a journalist for the New York Post. She enjoyed her job and happened to be quite good at what she did. The first odd sensation to throw Cahalan off was her irrational fear of having bed bugs in her apartment. She had an exterminator come to the building and check and treat it twice yet she still felt uneasy. Cahalan had two bite …show more content…
She didn’t trust her boyfriend, couldn’t write well at work anymore, felt a tingly sensation all over her body, loss of appetite, struggle to remember events, insomnia, and naturally not feeling like herself. After a doctor visit and consulting with her mother, it only appeared to be mononucleosis. Ignoring the continuing problems, Susannah finally noticed that it was much more severe after she had a seizure overnight. She was taken away to a hospital and had tests run on her but everything came back negative; nothing was wrong. Doctors claimed that she was drinking and partying too much. Some started to even think it was bipolar disorder. Cahalan could no longer think straight. Her mood swings were out of proportion and she fails to remember most of what happened after her first seizure. Susannah was eventually instituted to a hospital ten days after the blackout at night. This begun her two week stay in which they would discover her diagnosis. Slowly Susannah lost almost all capability of speaking, walking, and thinking. Doctors continued to stay puzzled at her condition as tests would only return as her being healthy and normal. Cahalan’s mother and father stayed strong and supportive throughout, unwilling to give up until a cure was
A sudden urge to snoop through her boyfriend's phone, a sudden urge to rid her home of nonexistent bedbugs, and a sudden urge to distrust her closest friends. Although these impulses were atypical for Cahalan, she shrugged them off and attempted to continue her life as normal. Her “normal” life began to consist of incoherent rambling, emotional instability, and frequent seizures. Close friends and family decided it was time for a checkup, and convinced Cahalan to comply.
In Sam Kean’s The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons, he uses historical events to explore the brain’s many components and qualities. Exposing that several scientific advancements of the human brain are a result of some gruesome incidents and tragic stories. The title is in reference to two brain doctors from 16th century Europe, Ambroise Paré and Andreas Vesalius who were called upon after King Henri II was pierced through the eye and skull during a joust in 1559. The story is written with Kean being the narrator of the cases from the past he then follows the story with current information of the related brain structure and its functioning. The cases include strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, and traumatic accidents followed by how the victim
The book "Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness" by Susannah Calahan is a narrative telling the life changing story of an unimaginable descent into madness, and the genius, lifesaving diagnosis that almost didn't happen. Previously healthy Susannah never would have imagined waking up in the hospital one day with no recollection of her battle with a disease that not only threatened her sanity but also her life. A team of doctors spent a month trying to pin down a medical explanation of what exactly what had gone wrong. During this time, we learn more about Susannah's family, friends, and loved ones and how each of them affect her overall wellbeing. Eventually, with the help of one special
What passion did Susannah’s family, loved ones, and friends have that despite all the hallucinations, psychosis symptoms that she had during her month of illness still believed that Susannah was still in there? Who was it predominantly that helped Susannah’s recovery, was it her parents, Stephen her boyfriend, Dr. Najjar? How did Susannah feel her parent’s love change, especially her father throughout her illness despite the fact that she does not remember anything during that month? Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan is a memoir about her recovery. Susannah is a 24-year-old independent woman, in a strong relationship with her new boyfriend, Stephen that she met six months ago. She works as a reporter for The Post. It was
At the age of twenty Charles’s experienced his first psychotic break. Not knowing what was happening Mother called the police as she believed the hallucinations and delusions were from marijuana and cocaine use. Charles was taken to the local jail and from there to the hospital when the symptoms remained for 12 hrs. At which time Charles was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Merriam-Webster defines mononucleosis as: "an acute infectious disease associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and characterized by fever, swelling of lymph nodes, and lymphocytosis."1 It is more commonly called "mono," or "the kissing disease." When I was thirteen, I caught this dreaded disease, and it changed the ways I acted around my friends forever.
Since one of the prominent concerns she has is related to health, she needs to be reassured by a physician that these symptoms are not dangerous, along with being aware about the fact that she misinterprets these symptoms and these symptoms can be created if she persistently focus on the certain parts of her body.
In “Girl Interrupted” Susanna Kaysen, the main character, goes through many episodes that give a picture of the disorder she’s suffering from. The first such incident occurs when the psychiatrist talks to Susanna about her failed suicide attempt. During the conversation, she is seen as confused and irritated by his presence. While the psychiatrist questions her, her mind seems to be somewhere else because she is having flashbacks of her past, maybe a sign of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Susanna seems uncertain about things, she claims that she does not know what she feels.
Susanna was originally diagnosed by Dr. Phillip W. Crumble with Time jumps, depression, hallucinations and suicidal symptoms before being admitted into the Psychiatric Hospital. Once she arrived, she was reevaluated by Dr. Melvin Potts with borderline personality disorder. Per DMS-5 REFERENCE CODE 301.83 (F60.3) page 325 states that Borderline
Ripley, Amanda. "Your Brain Under Fire. (Cover Story)." Time 181.3 (2013): 34-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Jane had not slept for 72 hours and had poor diet and was observed not to be drinking fluids. Jane has a diagnosis of Bipolar
This is true because the doctors never informed Charlie of the procedure involved in the surgery. They also never considered the fact that Charlie might not be intelligent enough to make those types of decisions. Since the patient was incapacitated, and didn't have a qualified person to make decisions for him, the doctors couldn't really know if this is what
Brain on Fire is a memoir detailing Susannah Cahalan’s descent into madness as a result of a mysterious disease. Susannah, who was a witty and intelligent reporter for the New York Post, began having extreme paranoia, hallucinations, and seizures – all of which were chocked up to the stress of life as a journalist in New York City. After severe mental and physical deterioration, a brain biopsy, and the intervention of world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Souhel Naijar, she was miraculously diagnosed with anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis; this disease was so difficult to diagnose because it presents as an inundation of degenerative symptoms which aren’t consistent throughout those who contract the disease. Susannah’s recovery and retelling of her harrowing journey through the depths of her mind helped raise
The patient has experienced fever, chills on body, headaches and anorexia as well as sweating especially during the night. The patient has also been feeling fatigued, muscle aches and nausea as well as vomiting especially after eating (WHO, 2010, p. 117). These symptoms started forty eight hours ago, and the patient has not taken any medication except for some aspirin.
Crawford’s symptoms include domestic violence, alcoholism and drug addition , obsessions, frequent nightmares, night raids, loneliness, frustration, sexual promiscuous, control issues, highly competitive, strict, deep hidden anger, fits of rage, strict rigid in her beliefs and a spending addiction.