Brain On Fire Summary

Imagine losing your whole family in one week, now imagine half of a population being wiped out. Armenian genocide killed half the population between the years 1915 and 1917. People were taken from their homes, imprisoned, and killed. The book Forgotten Fire, written by Adam Bagdasarian, is about a 13-year-old Armenian boy who survives the genocide. Vahan embarked on a long tough journey to get to safety in Constantinople where he would be free from the Turkish government.

She recalls the beginning stages of the condition, when she “started to trip and drop things” (p2). It was new to her, considering that tripping and dropping things isn’t exactly normal on a regular basis. Doing so didn’t necessarily make it easier to continue all her everyday activities, either. Rather than resting herself, Mairs mentions how she spends “a lot of time in extremis and, impatient with limitation, I tend to ignore my fatigue until my body breaks down in some way and forces rest” (p5). She lists what she is forced to endure everyday, aware that the common man doesn’t have to put up with what she suffers. Despite the burden the disease has placed on her, Mairs still considers herself “lucky so far. My world has, of necessity, been circumscribed by my losses, but the terrain left me has been ample enough for me to continue many of the activities that absorb me” (p4). She suggests that things are still looking up for her; instead of dwelling on what she isn’t able to do anymore, Mairs demonstrates that she still looks forward to other specialties. Recognizing that it’s a lifelong strain, she shows persistence and willingness to adjust her lifestyle as the disease

She tells her husband that she thinks “‘[they’d] better get to California because [she doesn’t know] whether [she’ll] ever make it again.’ ” Using an anecdote, she proves her point that once one suffers from MS, there is no way to “prevent or predict the damage”. She makes readers feel pity towards her as she uses a remorseful tone to convey her emotion towards the un predictableness of the disease. She then told the story of a friend who also had MS and explains how he questioned God about why he has to be cursed with this horrid disease. She responds to him by saying, “Why not?”

“Words of Fire,” by Anthony Collings, details the lives of different journalists in regards to free press and covering potentially dangerous stories. Anthony Collings is a former CNN reporter who shifted his focus from reporting to telling the story of journalists who have come under fire in a power struggle between government and free press. Collings puts free press into a spectrum, on one side there is the United States, where the press is largely free, and on the other side there are places like North Korea or China where press is largely restricted by the government. Collings does not focus on these extremes, but rather the places in the middle where there is an ongoing struggle between state power.

Upon reviewing Kathy’s medical history and the results of the various laboratory tests, the neurologists diagnose her with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). They explain to Kathy that MS is an autoimmune disease and that her own immune system has been attacking

While in the hospital, Cahalan's roommate warned her "The nurses here are bad news" (89). This likely fed the paranoia she was already experiencing, as she was now afraid of the healthcare staff. Cahalan even tried to escape from the hospital, which led Dr. Russo to add "Transfer to psych [ward] if psych team feels this is warranted" on her file (92). Later, a nurse even asked Stephen "' Has she (Cahalan) always been so slow?"' (120). Additionally, NYU medical students would randomly arrive in her room to learn about the disease, which not only invaded her privacy but hurt her as well, "'In about 50 percent of the cases, there is a teratoma in the ovaries. If this is the case, this patient may have her ovaries removed as a precaution.' As spectators nodded their heads, I caught this somehow, and began to cry. [...] His voice bounced around the hospital room. 'Never come back,' [...] Instead of apologizing, he waved his hand, urging the other interns to follow him toward the door, and made his escape." (160). It is never a good sign when patients in the hospital are warning about the hospital staff. I have concluded from this that the hospital definitely had issues in the past. I reviewed the hospital's reviews on google, and my conclusion was confirmed, as the hospital was reviewed with 3.8 stars out of five. Additionally, the fact Dr. Russo was willing to transfer Cahalan to a psych ward infuriated me. It made me feel like the doctor was giving up on the patient, and I do not feel this is every acceptable, not only in healthcare but in life in general. Also, I tried to place myself in Stephen's shoes when the nurse asked Stephen if Susannah had always been slow. I cannot imagine the strength it took of him to hold himself back, as I likely would have lost my mind over such an unprofessional comment such as that. Finally, having a group of medical students randomly enter your

Moreover, this book does not come without its flaws. I felt as if some of the writing was a bit over-dramatized. It should be kept in mind that when she was writing it was after recovering; she is going by what people have told her and what her mind can remember. This falls short of offering a clear understanding of what she was really going through at the time. Despite that, the book needed it for emphasis and tone and grabbed the reader's full attention.

In chapter 10 of Jordan- Young’s Brain Storm: The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences, the argument that our minds are not naturally hardwired to have substantial differences based on gender, but that social environments affect behavior is made. She make an analogy of human behavioral differences to the achillea plant, which develops differently based on its environment, to show that the environment can be especially influential in development in humans as well. Moreover, there is a point to be made about how this conversation of nature and nurture should include the interactionism approach: biology and developmental environment both having influence (Madva Lecture, March 8). Jordan- Young believes that the brain is malleable through environment,

“And there was a third time, but that was without knowledge, for she was away, and he had been sorely tempted to commit adultery with one of the teachers at Ndotsheni, who was weak and lonely”(305). Stephen accepts himself and is comfortable enough to tell his wife something his wife did not know about. “But if he was awake, then oh Christ of abundant mercy, be with me. Over this he prayed long and earnestly”(310). Stephen praying very long and earnestly shows that family is an important aspect in his life. Stephen has gone through many different situations that has changed him emotionally and physically.

Brain on Fire was a book wrote by Susannah Cahalan this was her story of the rare disease she got, this made her co-workers, friends, and loved ones worried about her although she was one tough girl her actions were saying different. Cahalan was a beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman who lived in New York and was just a normal writer for the New York Post.

Several books, movies, plays, or even music lure people into escaping the monotonous nature of reality. In spite of these attention sucking media, Susannah Cahalan’s book Brain on Fire was an extravgant, advetourous, horrifying adventure through her life and how she filled in the gaps as she went along through out her journey. We all lose track through our daily lives and do not always realize that others have it worse than we all do, especially dealing with our health on a day to day basis. Cahalan had no clue on what she had endured until she was cured and use books that her family wrote to fill in the details on what she does not remember. I thought, overall, her book was very truthful, but to what extent do we believe what her book says

For some, a life time of devotion does not start with birth. A lifetime may not even start until later in life. For Phillip M. Gattone, his life’s work had not begun until his mid-thirties. Woken up by one of his infant son’s crying, he found his son Phillip, who was four at the time, seizing on the floor with eyes rolled back and lips turned steel blue (Condor). Epilepsy had just entered his life. Phillip Gattone is an average weight, healthy, white American man who grew up in the Chicago area, and is unassuming in demeanor. Easily perceived as an average businessman, he does not play sports or do much of anything outside of running the Epilepsy Foundation. Since waking to the nightmarish scene of his son in a seizure, Mr. Gattone’s life purpose has been dedicated to epilepsy research, awareness, and treatment progress. Through his hardship, he has founded the Center for Epilepsy Education in Batavia, became chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation of Chicago, and is now the CEO

Neurasthenia is the nervous disease the narrator is suffering from. Gilman expresses if the narrator is ill or if the “rest cure” treatment she is on is making her crazy(Wilson). Weir Mitchell was the authors/narrators doctor who prescribed her the “rest cure” treatment, which did not succeed(Gilman). The narrator tells her husband to help her and change the treatment, but he refuses her desires. As a result, the narrator became insane because her husband forced his wife to be in an oppressed situation with her health(MacPike).

Typically, it is thought that doctors and the rest of the staff at health care facilities are trustworthy. However, Robbie’s neurologist, Dr. Abbasac, proves this thought wrong. Robbie’s condition got worse while being under her supervision, because she kept changing the treatment and increasing the dose of the medications. Due to the doctor’s actions, Robbie’s seizures became more frequent and lasted longer. He also started getting skin rashes, and his behavior was dramatically changed.

According to the 2nd chapter of the book of Acts, men were gathered together in a room when they heard a roaring wind from Heaven that filled the room. The story goes on to say that the men were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in unknown tongue much like fire. Pentecostal believers know that the Holy Spirit has the authority over them. The Holy Spirit has powers much different from angels, and demonic beings that may have miracles (Brack, 2014). The believers will speak however and whenever the Holy Spirit wants them to. In this Fire from Heaven essay, one will begin to know the history of the Pentecostal Movement and how important it is to believers, and the affects of Pentecostalism has on Black Africa.