In this book, Cahalan states that the purpose of writing it is to try and understand what happened. The doctor treated her like an actual human being instead of someone who is just complaining for no reason.Ĭahalan’s recovery from her disease was difficult, but she used her experience to help others who suffer from similar diseases. She was taken to a doctor who listened to her complaints. Later in the story, her symptoms got worse and more frequent. In the beginning of this book, Cahalan talks about how she had strange thoughts and didn’t tell anyone about them. Her medical records are included in the book, along with journal entries from family members and other sources. Throughout the story, we will learn about what happened to Susannah when she was hospitalized for a rare illness called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. The author also mentions that she is very close to her younger brother, James. She has many friends and a boyfriend, but her parents are divorced and she doesn’t see them much. The book begins with the narrator’s daily life in New York City. In addition, she presents evidence that these limitations are necessary for an authentic account of what happened to her during this time. She begins with the limitations of her ability to tell us what happened to her as a result of those attacks.

In her book, Cahalan details how she was attacked by her own body and recovered. Her story is inspiring because she fought through so much to get better. Eventually they diagnosed it as an autoimmune disease that affects the brain. She woke up in the hospital with no memory of how she got there and was violent and delusional for weeks while doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. Susannah Cahalan’s memoir, Brain on Fire, details her fight against a rare autoimmune disease. 1-Page Summary of Brain on Fire Overall Summary

Brain on fire the book