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Book Review of Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
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Fascinating study of a young woman fallling rapidly from apparent good health to a deeply psychotic state, ultimately revealed to be an autoimmune response attacking her brain. Cahalan tells her own story billiantly, using her regained investigative reporting skills, but perhaps the most fascinating portion, to me, was kind of an aside in the main book.

Cahalan's behavior at the height of her illness bears a remarkable likeness to "demonic possession" reports from historical documents. One cannot help but wonder if this insidious condition was present then.