Tag: brain on fire

MIA contributor Nesrin Shaheen, president of The Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Foundation, will attend the premiere of the movie “Brain on Fire” at the Toronto International...

Throughout the ages, convulsions, contortions of the body and face, including the tongue, super-human strength, catatonic periods, long periods of wakefulness or sleep, insensitivity to pain, speaking in tongues, and a predilection for self-injurious behaviours have all been offered as physical evidence of possession. The modern day interpretation, however, comes with a plot twist befitting a media spectacle. There is growing consensus in the medical community that many prior accounts of “demonic possession” may have represented original accounts of what is now broadly known as autoimmune encephalitis.

A new movie about the experience of madness caused by anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8-18....