schizophrenia is the disorder that savannah was diagnosed with in the movie brain on fire.
what is the disorder that savannah is diagnosed with in the movie brain on fire?
schizophrenia
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.
brain on fire
in addition to these two courses that are recognized by the dsm-iv-tr, there appears to be a relationship among oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder. specifically, research has demonstrated continuity in the disorders such that conduct disorder is often diagnosed in children who have been previously diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, and most adults with antisocial personality disorder were previously diagnosed with conduct disorder. for example, some research has shown that 90% of children diagnosed with conduct disorder had a previous diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder. moreover, both disorders share relevant risk factors and disruptive behaviors, suggesting that oppositional defiant disorder is a developmental precursor and milder variant of conduct disorder. however, this is not to say that this trajectory occurs in all individuals. in fact, only about 25% of children with oppositional defiant disorder will receive a later diagnosis of conduct disorder. correspondingly, there is an established link between conduct disorder and the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder as an adult. in fact, the current diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder require a conduct disorder diagnosis before the age of 15. however, again, only 25-40% of youths with conduct disorder will develop antisocial personality disorder. nonetheless, many of the individuals who do not meet full criteria for antisocial personality disorder still exhibit a pattern of social and personal impairments or antisocial behaviors. these developmental trajectories suggest the existence of antisocial pathways in certain individuals, which have important implications for both research and treatment.
conduct disorder