{"id":15105,"date":"2020-09-20T10:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T14:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=15105"},"modified":"2020-09-29T14:39:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T18:39:17","slug":"brain-on-fire-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/brain-on-fire-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brain on Fire Story: Susannah’s Missing Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Brain on Fire story about? How did Susannah Cahalan suddenly lose a month of time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brain on Fire story is about Susannah’s descent into what appears to be a psychosis. She is paranoid about her family members and doesn’t remember the time after she recovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the Brain on Fire story and the time Susannah can’t remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Brain on Fire Story and Paranoia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Allen and Susannah\u2019s mom agreed to let Susannah return to Manhattan under her father and stepmother\u2019s care. All goes well at first, but as Susannah and her dad head for the subway, Susannah\u2019s paranoia returns. She starts screaming on the street, and her father has to push her into a cab to get her to his home in Brooklyn. \u201cThey\u2019re kidnapping me!\u201d Susannah yells at the cabbie. She tells her dad she\u2019s calling the police. She\u2019s convinced she isn\u2019t safe in his care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhausted by the time they get to her dad\u2019s place, Susannah just sits on the couch and stares as her dad and stepmom, Giselle, prepare her favorite meal, pasta. Susannah has another hallucination; the tomato sauce is too bright. The basil pulsates. The cheese glistens. Susannah refuses to eat. After dinner, she has another hallucination like the one she had in the car with Allen. She thinks she hears Giselle saying, \u201cYou\u2019re a spoiled brat,\u201d even though Giselle\u2019s lips don\u2019t move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susannah has other hallucinations that night. A painting comes alive. A bust of Lincoln follows her with its eyes. Her childhood dollhouse is haunted. Her father is beating Giselle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convinced her father is going to kill her, Susannah is desperate to get out. She runs to the front door of the brownstone and bangs her fists against the door, screaming, \u201cLet me out! Help!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hears her father run downstairs, and she scoots into the bathroom, locking herself in. She\u2019s about to jump out the window when she spots a statue of Buddha<\/a> on the bathroom counter. It convinces her that everything will be all right, and she smiles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes Susannah\u2019s dad an hour to coax her out of the bathroom. When Susannah falls asleep in his lap, he calls Susannah\u2019s mom; they both agree she must be admitted to a hospital. However, both insist that she not be put in a psych ward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen and Susannah\u2019s mom drive in from New Jersey the next morning to take Susannah to Dr. Bailey\u2019s, where they ask him to draw up admittance papers. He refuses, insisting that her EEG was normal, along with her MRI, exam, and bloodwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as they arrive at the hospital, Susannah has a seizure in the Admitting Room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Brain on Fire story continues, but Susannah has no memories of the next month. No longer are there any glimmers of the \u201cI\u201d she had been for twenty-four years. She is unable to access her rational consciousness, and the break with her self is complete.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the Brain on Fire story about? How did Susannah Cahalan suddenly lose a month of time? The Brain on Fire story is about Susannah’s descent into what appears to be a psychosis. She is paranoid about her family members and doesn’t remember the time after she recovers. Read more about the Brain on Fire story and the time Susannah can’t remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9,12],"tags":[130],"class_list":["post-15105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-psychology","category-relationships","tag-brain-on-fire","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Brain on Fire Story: Susannah's Missing Month - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Brain on Fire story focuses on the time that Susannah lost. 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