"Terrifying in the sense that your body can so easily betray you, but ultimately hopeful since she recovered, studied, the disease and is now an activist to help others who suffer from a mystery illness as she once did." Stars: 3
Pros: Engrossing, Educational, Terrifying, Hopeful
Cons: Mental Illness Stigma, Medical explanations sometimes a little complicated/overly detailed
Full Review:
Chronicling a month where Susannah Cahalane descended into, basically, insanity, with no reason why, Brain on Fire is a detailed, enthralling tale of a mystery illness and a surprising/miraculous diagnosis and recovery.
She's not sure how she contracted the illness that she was eventually diagnosed with. And she still feels that a small part of her that existed before the illness is missing, but for the most part, she's back to her old self, able to live, work and exist independently without the constant supervision and aid of her parents/boyfriend etc.
For someone as stoically independent as Susannah Cahalane, it must have been infuriating to have to rely on everyone for the simplest of things. But she was so severely impaired when at the height of her illness that she had to rely on everyone around her or she wouldn't survive. And she's very lucky to have the support system that she does. Sadly, a lot of people don't and end up suffering alone. And a diagnosis such as hers can easily be mistaken for something like Schizophrenia and someone could end up institutionalized or on the wrong medications for the rest of their lives.
The extreme change in her mood and behavior is at first startling and then heart breaking. Since the story is told from her perspective, and she had to piece together the month in the Hospital that she has absolutely no recollection of, she does a fair job of it by having interviewed doctors, nurses, friends, family and thorough research on her own. It's frightening to think that our personalities can be so changed and our bodies so easily betraying us. It's also frightening to think of how we can hurt others so easily and never mean to. And it's undeniable that Susannah still feels guilt for the way she acted when in the depths of her disease.
My one problem with this book was when she was first hospitalized and the idea that she could perhaps have Schizophrenia or Schizo-Affective Disorder; this seemed like worse news than if she had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. The chance that she could possibly have a mental illness, God forbid, seemed to her parents at least, as the most horrible and dire diagnosis ever. Having lived and struggled with a mental illness for the better part of my adult life, albeit one not so "scary" as Schizophrenia etc, I found it rather insulting that the thought of Susannah being mentally ill and having to go to an Institution or Asylum was such a horrible, horrible thing. Of course no one wants to see their loved one sick, struggling and put in a psychiatric ward. But sometimes, that's what needs to be done. Luckily in Susannah's case, that is NOT what needed to be done and she's very fortunate that she was correctly diagnosed. And she now works hard to make sure that people are aware of her disease and the symptoms. But it irked me that the idea of Susannah going to one of "those places" seemed like a fate worse than death. It was very, Mary Tyler Moore in "Ordinary People."
It just didn't sit right with me. Not everyone on a psychiatric ward is dangerously ill. And it was insulting the way she alluded to the contrary. I have been on psychiatric wards before, of my own volition, and I can attest that I am not dangerously ill. I am not a danger to anyone, except for perhaps myself. I deal with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Dysthymia (low grade, long term depression) but sometimes, my anxiety will reel up and become out of control and I lose the ability to function in my day to day life. But with medication and therapy, I manage, on most days, to feel well. That was the one thing about this book that really irked me, was that the idea of Susannah being mentally ill was far worse than her possibly dying.
But, there's still a big stigma around mental illness and when a disease like hers has so many symptoms that parallel Schizophrenia, it's not unthinkable that she could have been misdiagnosed.
Other than the stigma of mental illness, the book was educational, in depth, terrifying and unafraid of diving into the grisly truth of medicine and the fact that sometimes, though we hate to admit it, Doctors do get it wrong. Some of the parts where she goes onto explain how the neurons in the brain work became a little complicated but if read slowly and carefully, it eventually makes sense. You can tell she did her research and wanted to learn as much as she could about what happened to her, and who can blame her?
A terrifying ordeal and one that she's extremely fortunate to have survived. I'd suggest it to anyone interested in medicine, inexplicable illnesses, memoirs or simply just something interesting and kind of "out of the box" to read.
Comments
Post a Comment