Rating: 8.5/10.
This is a memoir by a 24 year old girl who developed a rare neurological disease, called “Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis”. It’s rare enough that initially, all the doctors were unable to correctly diagnose the disease, instead thinking she had bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Her condition worsened and she became psychotic, until they identified the disease and she quickly recovered. Now, the disease is much better understood, and despite the severe symptoms, patients have about 80% chance of a full recovery.
It’s quite a scary story, despite knowing that the ending is good (after all, she recovered sufficiently to write the book). I might be doing research related to diagnosing neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s in my master’s, so this book is really inspiring, and conveys the lives of real people who benefit from medical research.
