Susannah Cahalan

“Be your own advocate.”

“Read enough books on the body, and you'll find that reality is much stranger than any sci-fi series.”

“It's hard for me to hear about the things that I believed during my madness.”

“The brain is the black box: the final frontier.”

“To see my story turned into a movie is mind-blowing.”

“If an autoimmune disease can create symptoms that look exactly like schizophrenia, that raises the question, what is schizophrenia? And are there forms of schizophrenia that are caused by other types of autoimmune disease?”

“I believed that I could age people with my mind. If I looked at them, wrinkles would form, and if I looked away, they would suddenly, magically get younger.”

“It's hard to imagine a time when lobster pots weren't part of a well-equipped kitchen, but America's love affair with the two-clawed crustaceans didn't start until the 1800s.”

“The most dangerous age is 14. If you know any teenagers, this might not come as a surprise, but research has confirmed that risk-taking peaks during this exact moment in mid-adolescence.”

“I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.”

“The mind is like a circuit ofChristmas tree lights. When thebrain works well, all of the lightstwinkle brilliantly, and it’s adaptableenough that, often, even if one bulbgoes out, the rest will still shine on.But depending on where thedamage is, sometimes that oneblown bulb can make the wholestrand go dark.”

“Amy Adams is a lucky woman. Not only is she one of Hollywood's most talented actresses, with five Oscar nominations under her fashionable belt, she actually smells sexy.”

“In the world of online invitations, nothing is sacred. People will invite all 500 of their 'closest' friends to their birthday party - and 485 of those people will RSVP 'yes' without intending to show up.”

“Hormones get no respect. We think of them as the elusive chemicals that make us a bit moody, but these magical little molecules do so much more.”

“When you want to write well, wake up at 5 A.M.”

“Redheads feel hot and cold temperatures more severely than anyone else.”

“To hear the words 'autoimmune encephalitis' in a movie is amazing to me, and I'm so proud.”

“I knew something was wrong; I was constantly tired, and I'd developed numbness on my left side. I'd also become paranoid that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. One psychiatrist told me I was bipolar.”

“NMDA receptors are concentrated in the areas that control learning and memory, higher functions like multitasking, and some of the more subtle aspects of personality. When the immune system makes antibodies that attack these receptors, people may have seizures and violent fits.”

“We separate problems with the brain into neurological and psychiatric, and it's because it's stigmatised still. Mental illness is still stigmatised. Imagine if we treated people with cancer like that. Just because your personality changes and your behaviour changes, all of a sudden you are put in a different category.”