Worth reading to understand how far our medical culture has to go!

This book was an insightful first person account of someone\'s conscious deteriorating. The author also goes into much detail about history and medical research about her disease. It\'s scary how this can happen to someone and also inspiring how families bond together in tough times.

hard to believe and inspiring.

Wow, once I started, I could not put it down. This book is excellent. I experienced Susannah’s confusion, fear, and incident by incident descent into the hell that followed the onset of her strange illness. A perfectly normal young woman, she is suddenly exhibiting some not so perfect behavior.
The idea that medicine is in its infancy, and that we are sometimes at the mercy of its incompetence, hits home. Susannah’s odd assortment of symptoms eluded all of the professionals she visited. They could not offer an accurate diagnosis. Doctors, family and friends were at a loss to explain the changes in her physical and emotional health, in her work habits and in her behavior, yet she needed their support. Luckily, she is here to tell the tale.
This book will surely raise many questions about the state of our health care system.

Brain on Fire, a reporter's research into her own life changing battle for sanity, is a fast read, difficult to put down. Though we know, at the outset, that Ms. Cahalan will recover, the book retains an element of suspense as her illness and the search for it's source and cure rolls out across the page. The desperation of family and loved ones faced with the sudden onset of a devastating illness, struggling to understand what is happening and fighting the medical system for answers is beautifully presented. Ms. Cahalan's recovery and the "new" person that she now is, is difficult to comprehend for all those who have known her "old" self. It will be interesting to hear from her again, some years down the road, and find out how she has built her life after this sharp turn in the road.

As I read this book I wondered, are any of us really diagnosed correctly? Thanks to brilliant doctors who refuse to give up, Susannah and many others, are on their way to recovery. This book gives you a glimpse into what Susannah\\\'s experience was like and also a little lesson on the inner workings of the brain. I am thankful for her courage and talents in getting her story out and all the blessing others have received from the knowledge as well. This book leaves you wondering how many others in the world have been misdiagnosed and living without hope.

Wow, once I started, I could not put it down. This book is excellent. I experienced Susannah’s confusion, fear, and incident by incident descent into the hell that followed the onset of her strange illness. A perfectly normal young woman, she is suddenly exhibiting some not so perfect behavior.
The idea that medicine is in its infancy, and that we are sometimes at the mercy of its incompetence, hits home. Susannah’s odd assortment of symptoms eluded all of the professionals she visited. They could not offer an accurate diagnosis. Doctors, family and friends were at a loss to explain the changes in her physical and emotional health, in her work habits and in her behavior, yet she needed their support. Luckily, she is here to tell the tale.
This book will surely raise many questions about the state of our health care system.

Very interesting read. I wasn\\\'t too sure what to make of the story during the first section of the book, since the author came across as almost pretentious, but by the end I realized how wrong my first impression was.

I was beyond impressed by Calahan\\\'s ability to balance and smoothly transition between the personal effects of the disease with the scientific aspect of it. I especially enjoyed the explanation of how the disease affects different parts of the brain, resulting in such a broad-range of symptoms.

It\\\'s a beautiful story of one woman\\\'s battle with a scary and newly-discovered disease, as well as how her battle affected her closest family and friends. The close-knit bonds of the family remained strong throughout a very trying time, not knowing what the future would bring.

Very well-written and hard to put down.

The members of my book club like the lighter reads, since we don\\\'t talk too in-depth about the books during our get-togethers. That said, if your club wants to read something more scientific, go for it.

This book kept my interest and made me think how many other people are misdiagnosed. She is such a strong woman who went to hell and back.

Susannah Cahalan’s memoir of the terrifying illness that affected her reads more like a horror story than a medical mystery. It’s scary to realize how an illness can change the very essence of what makes someone who they are. Brain on Fire is an interesting read, and I recommend it.

This book was a real life medical mystery that made me want to keep reading to discover what happened to her. This book highlights how important it is to have a health advocate because when you are the patient you can't always speak for yourself.

Not the best for great discussion, since it is non-fiction, but an interesting read nonetheless. Couldn't wait to find out the cause of her madness. Like reading an episode of House.

Interesting story on mental health and all we really don't know about how the brain works and what may trigger problems.

This book gets started right away. A recount of one woman's journey through mental illness and back. Quick and easy to read brings to light an illness that had been overlooked for years.

Sweet:
* awareness of the existence of anti nmda receptor encephalitis and how its symptoms mirror those of severe psychiatric mental illnesses
* Cahalan's win over this debilitating, little known disease that effected her so, so significantly
* Her boyfriend Steven and his dedication and patience
* Dr. Najjar seems like an amazing doctor and human being (I was left wanting to learn more about him and his life)

Sour:
* Way too much detail and what seemed like fillers. This is my biggest complaint. Once her point was made, the story went on and on and on; I just wanted it to be over.
* Her writing seemed stunted and was just "matter of fact" with no real connection with Cahalan's emotions; I realize this could only be reflected upon following her recovery, due to her memory loss, but it wasn't even present in her recollection of post-recovery experiences.
* A particular lack of humility, or maybe it was self-awareness, towards the end, indicating that Cahalan was all better and fully recovered - seemed a bit unbelievable and would have liked to know about any ongoing motor/neurological challenges that may have lingered.
* Dismissing the benefits of therapy and mental health services as a part of recovery

I feel for Cahalan's illness and did feel empathy for her as she documented this horrendous experience. As I mentioned above, the best thing that has come out of this read is my new knowledge about this autoimmune disease and how it's symptoms mimic major mental illness, but I would have preferred to either have read a much shorter article about it or have someone who read Brain on Fire tell me what they learned. It was interesting for about 30 minutes and then it quickly became a chore.