Anterograde Amnesia and TBI
For this neuro note I chose to watch the movie "50 First Dates." The movie is about a man, played by Adam Sandler, who falls in love with a woman, played by Drew Barrymore. As the movie progresses, Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) finds out that Lucy (Drew Barrymore) suffered a traumatic brain injury a year before which damaged her temporal lobe causing short term memory loss. In the movie they label her condition as "Goldfield's Syndrome" but in reality, what Lucy suffers from is anterograde amnesia. It is a condition that a person is unable to encode short term memory into long term memory. In the movie, every day Lucy wakes thinking it is the same day as her accident, October 13. In the end, Henry and Lucy end up together, obviously, and the movie ends well.
I enjoyed watching this movie, even though there were some obvious issues with the portrayals of certain characters and Lucy's condition. I did a little more research on the movie and I learned more about what Lucy suffers from in the movie. Anterograde amnesia is a result of brain damage or trauma. In Lucy's case, she suffered a TBI from a car accident. She cannot remember anything that happens each day after her accident. Basically, she lacks short term and working memory. Anterograde amnesia can also affect people differently. It is dependent on their specific case how much they information they can retain and lose over a certain time period. There is a character who cannot remember events from 10 seconds ago.
I chose to watch this movie because I wanted to learn about memory loss and I thought it was interesting that a mainstream movie would choose to depict a condition like anterograde amnesia. It is a topic that can often be depicted in unrealistic ways and perhaps they do this in this movie, but I still enjoyed it and learned more because of it. As an OT student, I felt like the way Lucy's situation was handled was a little displeasing. I felt that Henry being the first to introduce a video that would depict what happened to her every day was unlikely. Lucy would have been seeing some sort of therapist that would aid her in coping strategies and habits that would support her engagement in occupation rather than letting her live the same day over and over. Henry would not have been the first to introduce this strategy, probably a therapist would.
I enjoyed this movie and it helped me analyze a situation with my developing "OT brain" and I think it could be a good exercise for others to look at how someone could live their life with anterograde amnesia or how as an OT you could improve it.
References:
Goodfriend, W. (2012, December 4). Amnesia in "50 first dates." Psychology
Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychologist-the-movies/201212/amnesia-in-
50-first-dates
Segal, P. (Director). (2004). 50 first dates [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
I enjoyed watching this movie, even though there were some obvious issues with the portrayals of certain characters and Lucy's condition. I did a little more research on the movie and I learned more about what Lucy suffers from in the movie. Anterograde amnesia is a result of brain damage or trauma. In Lucy's case, she suffered a TBI from a car accident. She cannot remember anything that happens each day after her accident. Basically, she lacks short term and working memory. Anterograde amnesia can also affect people differently. It is dependent on their specific case how much they information they can retain and lose over a certain time period. There is a character who cannot remember events from 10 seconds ago.
I chose to watch this movie because I wanted to learn about memory loss and I thought it was interesting that a mainstream movie would choose to depict a condition like anterograde amnesia. It is a topic that can often be depicted in unrealistic ways and perhaps they do this in this movie, but I still enjoyed it and learned more because of it. As an OT student, I felt like the way Lucy's situation was handled was a little displeasing. I felt that Henry being the first to introduce a video that would depict what happened to her every day was unlikely. Lucy would have been seeing some sort of therapist that would aid her in coping strategies and habits that would support her engagement in occupation rather than letting her live the same day over and over. Henry would not have been the first to introduce this strategy, probably a therapist would.
I enjoyed this movie and it helped me analyze a situation with my developing "OT brain" and I think it could be a good exercise for others to look at how someone could live their life with anterograde amnesia or how as an OT you could improve it.
References:
Goodfriend, W. (2012, December 4). Amnesia in "50 first dates." Psychology
Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychologist-the-movies/201212/amnesia-in-
50-first-dates
Segal, P. (Director). (2004). 50 first dates [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
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