Book Review: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Paperback Release Date: August 6, 2013
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

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.

In the memoir Brain on Fire, Susannah Cahalan details her struggle to get an accurate diagnosis for why she has suddenly been having symptom that resemble mental illness or signs of a stroke. She leaves the reader guessing as to what the correct diagnosis might be until the last third of the book. So many times I was tempted to flip ahead to see what it was!

Susannah’s story is surprisingly detailed given that she cannot remember a lot of the events that happened in her “month of madness”. Luckily, she is a journalist and was skilled at interviewing her family, friends and doctors about what happened.

One of the most important take-ways from this book is to be your own advocate in your health care. As a frequent patient myself, I heartily second that. Never be afraid to question your doctor and do your own research.

I definitely recommend this book.