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« Did Eskimos put Elders on ice floes to die? | Main | Non Witch Stories »
October 30, 2008 |Permalink |Comments (1)
Tabassum Live Blogs!
Today, Dr. Thomas is speaking about King Lear and asked me to live blog - I thought the reading was very literature-based, so we'll see how this lecture relates to aging!
[2:35]
Of course, Dr. Thomas introduces more vocabulary that means two different kinds of conflict, like Intergenerational - conflict across time, between generations and intragenerational - conflict across the same generation (between siblings)
King Lear has weird Shakespearean clothes on... who says he can rule a kingdom? His conflict in dividing his kingdom up amongst his daughters parallels the conflict with another character with a weird name and his sons.
Aging is a universal phenomenon... it even goes back to Shakespeare's time!
Apparently, sociological imagination is everywhere, making private problems public issues even in a strangely clothed old King Lear....
I love British accents, we are watching a puppet show of King Lear, it's cute! :)
[2:50]
Identity conflict - a sensitive issue in the play because King Lear is trying to be monarch and elder together, it didn't work out!
I love when we get bits and pieces of advice in class that we can use in our daily lives.
Today we'll get three main topics:
First, we define dementia - gradual process that includes a loss of previously attained cognitive function, leads to irreversible damage
Telling someone about Alzheimer's and dementia is like telling someone about cancer.
A chronic condition with two deaths:
diagnosis lasts forever & psychosocial death (everyone forgets you exist)
A nursing home and cemetery are not the same thing - you are alive in a nursing home, don't write them off!! In a cemetery is when you are dead. Remember that.
Now we are traveling to India and learning about a guy who changed his identity to Ram Das, talking about living in the present - because it is important. So true!
In Native Alaskan culture, Alzheimer's Disease is a gift - because an elder then has one foot in the spiritual world and one in the physical world... I've never thought about it that way, that's really cool - wish I knew that when I was caring for grandma!
We are re-diagnosing King Lear - he wasn't living in the moment, he was occupied with the past and future all the time... that seems pretty normal to me...
[3:05]
King Lear was experiencing delerium, topic number 2.
delirium - usually has sudden onset, diminishes people's ability to process sensory function normally
We are always getting suggestions for books to add to our book list on aging...
Fact: The band The Doors were named after a collection of poems by Huxley!
You really do learn something new everyday. In this class, though, it's every minute.
In the 1960's, lots of drugs were being used to mess with sensory processing... what a naughty and rebellious generation... they even had a group called the pranksters!
Back to understanding delerium, which is usually reversible, and messes with our points of reference. There are weird sounds behind Dr. Thomas that are messing with my points of reference...spooky.
1950's were full of conformity and 1960's did not have trouble experimenting and being non-conformist... total opposites.
Was King Lear depressed? Apparently not... anhedonia means without pleasure, which does not describe him well, although Dr. House recognized it! Anyhow, King Lear in the play had plans and very noticeable feelings, he was delirious, which is NOT dementia!
Often, these two are mixed up - depression and dementia are NOT the same.
Dementia can mimic depression, delirium is not the same either - too many D-words!
Uh oh, here comes a prediction: The boomer generation as they age may rediscover an appetite for mind-altering substances; oh man, here comes the marijuana...
Except we need to make sure that we can be here now, because being is more important than doing - what a phrase - full of trait transformation for the boomers!
[3:20]
King Lear on one hand and Star Wars on the other - intergenerational conflict!
Both films portray generations fighting against each other... father, son, brother...
Now these scenes make me sad...
And now I'm confused - a voice over with King Lear and a musical?!
Okay, back to the movie with King Lear now he's screaming lots and lots because his daughter is dead. He doesn't seem insane to me, just heartbroken. :(
King Lear dies; soon after, his banished daughter comes back because she had hoped to save him before he died.... creepy but very pretty flute music plays...
Music IS connective tissue, THAT is for sure, it doesn't matter what the occasion!
I think we had some Halloween undertones today, full of delirium... but neat!
Comments ( 1)
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Barbara