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Brain on Fire

My Month of Madness
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Apr 30, 2017m0mmyl00 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The author describes her months long experience with an undiagnosed brain disease. It appeared first as inexplicable quirks, then proceeded rapidly to psychosis. Doctors thought she partied too hard, was under too much stress from her job at the NY Post, had epilepsy, was psychotic, etc., etc. In short, they just didn't know. Her live-in boyfriend was steadfast. Her mother and father, estranged from each other, were too. All of her doctors were mystified. Finally, a new doctor asked her to draw a picture of a clock. She drew all the numbers on the right hand side of the circle, giving him a clue about the disease in her brain. Her recovery was as traumatic, though not as dramatic, as her disease. The book was interesting because her experience was so weird, and her recounting of it was competent. It was not, however, uplifting, insightful, or poetic.