To begin this project, you will need to read the novel, Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. You will read about her journey into madness as she discovers that she has an incredibly rare and debilitating disease called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

After reading the novel and viewing the film adaptation, you are to write a 3 page essay that outlines the symptoms, original misdiagnosis, the similarities seen in schizophrenia and then the conclusion of what was happening to Susannah. You want to also make note of the impact of her condition on her family and the people closest to her. If you were her parents, would you have made the same decisions when the visible evidence is strongly pointing towards a form of psychosis? Include your overall thoughts on the condition and what you believe we should or could be doing to help those who may have been wrongly diagnosed and institutionalized.