For Cahalan, composing and publishing this book “has been an exercise in [her] comprehending what was lost” (xi). There have been some details that have been changed, but overall, this book is nonfiction, she states. In this section, she admits that she is biased. Additionally, she understands there are some things she will never get right, and that while accuracy and precision are important, the writing is more “an attempt to pick up and understand the pieces left behind” (xi).

Cahalan awakes in a New York City hospital with a straitjacket on. She compares it to coming out of a bad hangover or an accident. Cahalan thinks her babysitter from childhood, Sybil, is with her, but she is unsure. She cannot trust her senses, causing her to panic. She does not know what is real, only that she can’t move or escape. She squints to read words on a band on her wrist that reads: “FLIGHT RISK.”

The reader is introduced to the world of Cahalan in 2009, in New York City. There are several important characters introduced. There is Paul, her longtime mentor at The New York Post. Cahalan’s friend, Angela, also works at The Post. Cahalan’s world is stable.