The film Still Alice tells the story of a linguistics professor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The director shows us the heroine’s and her family’s feelings and how important it is to provide worthy help caring for the patient. The film describes the disease process from its inception, which allows the viewer to see the complete picture of the events. The woman lived a happy life, made a career being a teacher, and gave birth to three children; hence her memory loss was an absolute disaster. Alice began to forget the words, but the reality had to be recognized and reconciled not only to the heroine but to her loved ones.
The first symptom that made the woman understand something wrong is forgetting words and routes. She is a linguistics professor at Columbia University and is faced with the challenge of finding the right audience. In the class, she misremembers the lecture topic and then asks the students if anyone remembers what the lesson is about today. Several people raise their hands and remind the subject to the teacher, which allows her to get out of the awkward situation. After that, Alice decides to see a doctor who does many tests since the chance of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is low because of age.
Alice went through a lot of stress, while her main asset is her brain. She is a scientist who loves to develop, learn something new and look for original solutions. Most of all, she was afraid to forget the main things in her life, so she made notes on the phone with questions. It can be argued that all areas of her life have been affected, the first of which is her career. When the management found out about the heroine’s illness, they were forced to fire her. The next is the family, which suffered both mentally and physically since the disease is inherited. Alice left all critical areas of life, such as society, since she could not take care of herself. The illness puts solid psychological pressure on a person because they cannot cope with basic needs.
The family was shocked when they found out about Alzheimer’s disease but accepted and helped the heroine. After several preliminary single consultations, Alice came with her husband to find out at the doctor’s appointment. Later, they informed the children, who were very surprised, and tried to find out the details. The descendants of the heroine are very different; the older daughter is diligent, plans children with her husband, the son constantly changes girls, and the youngest does not want to get a higher education. The emphasis is on the relationship with Lydia since the mother often clashed with her daughter before the illness.
In the middle of the progression of the disease, Alice accidentally read her diary, which caused another quarrel. In the end, Lydia stayed to look after her mother, reading a book in the park with indulgence and love. The family understands and shares Alice’s feelings, which is reflected in almost every dialogue and scene.
The nurse makes a significant contribution to the patient’s care. She provides therapeutic activities, monitors medication intake, and disease progression. To simplify a person’s movements, doctors usually change their daily system to a more routine one. In other words, the medical staff provides a safe environment in which the patient can live without trouble. Additionally, they can put labels on objects with a designation of their actions if a person suddenly forgets how a thing works. In complex cases, nurses should put food into a mushy state and serve it from a tube. Attendants are indispensable for patients with Alzheimer’s disease since they provide care and supervision to execute routine tasks.
The best way to educate the patient and family members is through a shared conversation, documenting the main points. The specialist should explain the need to change the attitude towards the sufferer, ask for patience and not get angry when controversial or embarrassing situations arise (Esandi et al., 2017). Family members can face the emotional pressure and stress that the patient radiates. For example, the movie shows an excellent example of how her husband treats Alice. She asked several times about when he was leaving and when his daughter would arrive. Each time John answered calmly like the first time, which helped the heroine feel not disdained. An intelligible explanation about the development of the disease helps to build relationships in the family.
Most of all, I was impressed by the scene from the film when Lydia accepts her mother’s state and confirms her words that the book is about love. The relationships between the two girls in the movie are pretty tense since the daughter chose the path undesirable for her mother. In the end, Lydia completely changed her attitude towards Alice and accepted the situation. I think this moment is very touching because it completes the logical chain of experiences of both girls.
Reference
Esandi, N., Nolan, M., Alfaro, C., & Canga-Armayor, A. (2017). Keeping things in balance: Family experiences of living with Alzheimer’s disease. The Gerontologist, 58(2), 56–67. Web.