Woman Having Mental Breakdown Can’t Be Cured, Until Her Doctor Asks Her To Draw a Clock

woman having mental breakdown can't be cured until her doctor asks her to draw a clock [Music] [Applause] [Music] at just 24 years old susanna kahalan was admitted to the hospital for insanity and was about to be in the middle of what felt like a losing battle until one day when one doctor looked a little closer at her symptoms and realized her erratic behavior was a result of a very rare disease that others failed to notice with a job at the new york post and six months into a new relationship 2009 was looking to be a year full of bliss for susanna cahilan however the young woman's future was about to take a shocking turn that would change her life forever unfortunately kahalan's future looked anything but blissful as she began to experience random unexplainable sensations throughout her body she had no idea that her life was about to be put on hold for an illness she wasn't aware she had as a mysterious sensation took over her body cathelan wondered if her strange feeling was caused by bedbugs and decided to call an exterminator however this was quickly ruled out when the exterminator found zero evidence of an infestation in her home as time went on cathelan became plagued with paranoia hallucinations and seizures these episodes became so frequent and severe that the 24 year old couldn't go to work anymore as a result of the seizures calhalan was becoming lethargic and feeling extremely distressed but the young woman couldn't explain why she was feeling and acting the way she was after seeking medical help catalan was hospitalized at new york university hospital for further tests however soon after being admitted cat helen became progressively violent with the staff the 24 year old quickly stopped acting like her usual self and became enraged with everyone that came into contact with her leaving her friends and family to feel threatened years later catalan would remember this period of her life as something from a zombie movie the doctors in the hospital suspected that catalan was suffering from a mental breakdown they believe that her uncharacteristic behavior and symptoms of aggression supported their diagnosis doctors planned on transferring catalan to a psychiatric facility where psychologists could analyze her behavior further however before she left one doctor came to review her case and made an unusual suggestion that would finally start to answer a lot of questions dr sewell najar was determined to take a closer look at kahalan's condition and didn't want to assume it was just a mental breakdown he was convinced that there was an underlying issue that was causing her aggressive behavior although kahalan's issue did appear to be related to her mental state dr sewell najar wasn't satisfied with her condition being passed off as a nervous breakdown he was determined to get to the root of the cause dr najar asked calhalan to perform one simple task that would affirm all his suspicions about her condition he had a theory about what the 24 year old was really suffering from and needed this one test to confirm it the task at hand was for kahalan to draw a simple clock however as dr najar suspected it wasn't that simple for her to draw at all as soon as she put pen to paper his suspicions were confirmed dr najar had finally been able to explain kahelen's change in behavior instead of being diagnosed with insanity the young woman's symptoms turned out to be the result of a rare disease of the brain that was affecting her mental faculties the terrifying disease caused inflammation on catalan's brain which led her body's white blood cells to attack her brain this activity ultimately caused brain damage that triggered aggressive psychosis the clock that kahalan drew for dr najar showed all of its numbers on the right hand side while the left was completely blank this one test confirmed significant brain damage to dr najar according to dr najar kahalan's image of a clock with no numbers on the left proved that she had significant brain damage finally the doctor was making progress and kahalan and her family were getting some answers soon dr najar was able to diagnose susan cahalan with anti-nmda receptor encephalitis a rare condition which causes the immune system's antibodies to attack the brain after being diagnosed with this rare disease kahalan learned that she was facing death if her condition was left untreated dr najar's determination and quick thinking ultimately saved her life the rare disease is known to be fatal if left untreated with around 20 percent of sufferers passing away from complications fortunately catalan received life-saving treatment which included a steroid drip to fight the white blood cells from attacking the brain after just one month in hospital catalan was cured once she was fully recovered kahalan wrote a detailed book about her experience with the rare disease she hopes that by bringing awareness to the condition she can help others who are suffering to not be cast aside and labeled as simply having a nervous breakdown after her book brain on fire was published in 2012 it was adapted into a movie starring chloe grace moretz as susannah cahilan in 2016. today you can catch the thrilling yet awe-inspiring movie on netflix susanna cahilan continues to share her story with the world by speaking on public platforms about her experience with the rare disease she hopes that by talking about it she can save someone who is suffering from the same illness but doesn't know it yet catalan is one of the 15 percent of people who recover from the rare condition but she still suffers severe cognitive defects first discovered in 2007 the disease is believed to be most common in young women while 30 percent of cases are associated with ovarian tumors the cause of the disease is relatively unknown catalan's experience changed her life beyond recognition as she struggles with remembering who she was before her diagnosis in relation to who she is now her story speaks as a powerful message to those suffering with brain damage and her book is an absolute must read