Dedicated to those without a diagnosis. — Susannah Cahallan. The first book we are reading this year is Brain on Fire, by Susannah Cahallan. This blog will serve as our class digital notebook. It will be a record of our thoughts and our learning as we read the book together. Your first job is to… Read more

Choose one of the Mysterious Medical Conditions and create a powerpoint. Use this link to view the instructions and examples: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b7CYoLt_0bRnBPZYinkDb4vbard4zGX-8Yv0OHv9cck/edit?usp=sharing Paste the link to your work below.

Choose one of these two cases to investigate (HM or Clive Wearing). Create an infographic, slide show, or video to educate us about the case. At the end of your video, include a thought provoking question that this case brings to mind. For instance, you might choose to ask about the role of memory in… Read more

Read chapters 18-21. Choose to focus on “postictal fury” (p. 81) or schizoaffective disorder (p. 86). What symptoms does Susannah give for this disorder? Do you think this is a good fit for her diagnosis? Explain.

Here is the video of Susannah in the hospital when she thinks she is on the TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmp_vVLKXEU What do you notice just by watching Susannah in this video? Please write your impressions below.

Please read chapters 13-17. Please answer these two questions in the discussion: Why do you think Cahalan chose to include the “Intake Interview” poem at this point in the book? I want you to think about the way the text is structured. Can you tell when Cahalan is narrating, vs when it’s an excerpt from… Read more

Below is the text of the poem “Intake Interview” by Franz Wright. Here is a video of the author reading the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=YzDlpXPF9Sk Here is some additional information about the author: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/franz-wright After reading the poem, choose one of the lines to respond to. What does it mean to you? Why do you think the… Read more

Read chapters 10-12. Please answer these questions in the discussion below: What’s your opinion on Susannah’s bipolar diagnosis? How do Susannah’s symptoms compare to what you’ve learned about bipolar in Psychology class? Susanna’s paranoid mind causes her to totally misread her mom’s facial expressions. Have you ever totally misread someone? What happened, and what advice… Read more

Brain on Fire is a memoir. Today, you’re going to create a digital memoir… in 6 words! A memoir is a personal story. A 6 word memoir is one of those stories, told only in 6 words! This means you have to choose carefully to squeeze as much meaning as possible into those 6 words.… Read more

Read chapters 7-9. Answer the questions below: “No great mind has ever exited without a touch of madness.” – Aristotle. What do you think this quote means? Why did Cahallan include it? What new diagnosis does Susannah get in chapter 8? Please explain how this correlates to what you are learning in Psychology.

Read chapters 4-6. Start a Diagnosis Log to keep track of the different diagnosis that Susannah receives. Which diagnosis do you see the most evidence for? Be sure to include the information from the book that supports your theory.

Read chapters 1-3. While you read, pick out a word you don’t know or that you are less familiar with than other words. Look up the definition. Then use Canva to make a flash card of the word, including the definition, and an illustration or image (can be taken from an online source). Upload your… Read more

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