<Tr> <Th> ISBN </Th> <Td> 9781451621372 </Td> </Tr> <P> Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness is a 2012 New York Times Bestselling autobiography by New York Post writer Susannah Cahalan . The book details Cahalan's struggle with a rare autoimmune disease and her recovery . It was first published on November 13, 2012 through Free Press in hardback, and was later reprinted in paperback by Simon & Schuster after the two companies merged . </P> <P> The book narrates Cahalan's issues with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and the process by which she was diagnosed with this form of encephalitis . She wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the events of the previous month, during which time she would have violent episodes and delusions . Her eventual diagnosis is made more difficult by various physicians misdiagnosing her with several theories such as "partying too much" and schizoaffective disorder . Eventually several physicians, including Dr. Souhel Najjar, began to suspect that Cahalan was suffering from an autoimmune disease . Najjar diagnosed Cahalan using a test that involved her drawing a clock, a test normally given to people suspected of having dementia or Alzheimer's disease . Rather than drawing the clock face normally, the disease caused Cahalan to draw all of the numbers 1 through 12 on the right face of the clock, because the right side of her brain, which regulates the left side of the body, was inflamed . Najjar used this to help diagnose Cahalan and start her road to recovery . </P> <P> The book also covers Cahalan's life after her recovery, including her reactions to watching videotapes of her psychotic episodes while in the hospital . Cahalan also discusses her symptoms prior to her hospitalization, as she had previously been diagnosed by both a psychiatrist and by herself with bipolar disorder . While researching, she learned that the disease had only been discovered three years before she became ill . Her research indicated that in 2009 most people with the disease were either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed . Cahalan was fortunate to be correctly diagnosed because, according to Najjar's estimates, only 10 percent of people with the disease were properly diagnosed at that time . Since then, a better understanding of the disease and its symptoms has resulted in more frequent diagnosis and treatment . </P>

What did the girl have on brain on fire