The movie Awakenings
Meagan McGee
Psychology 1300
Awakenings
The movie Awakenings starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro portrays the true story of a doctor named Dr. Malcolm Sayer, and the events of the summer of 1969 at a psychiatric hospital in New York. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who is a research physician, is confronted with a number of patients who had each been afflicted with a devastating disease called Encephalitis Lethargica. The illness killed most of the people who contracted it, but some were left living statues; speechless, motionless, and helpless.
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, when introduced to these patients and their prospective cases, took on what was considered an extremely unpredictable and radical experimental treatment. Being a primarily research physician, Dr. Sayer learns of a new drug called L-DOPA, today used extensively for Parkinson’s patients. Sayer injects an incredible amount of this drug into a patient named Leonard, played by Robert De Niro. When Leonard awakes from his catatonia, literally a 12 year old trapped in a 42 year olds body; Sayer decides to expand the treatment to the remaining of the catatonic post-encephalitic patients in his care. Dr. Malcolm Sayer ended up “waking up” a total of 16 people that summer, all of which, in a heartbreaking twist, slipped back into catatonia a few months after being awakened.
This movie clearly has a lot of ties to the field of psychology. The patient’s affliction, Encephalitis Lethargica, appeals to Biological Psychology. Encephalitis is an almost always fatal inflammation of the brain usually caused by some kind of infection, particularly infection of the spinal fluid, called meningitis; however the two are not always present together. This disease can cause psychological symptoms such as confusion, rage, and irritability. In rare cases, and in what was, in the 1930’s, labeled of epidemic proportions, encephalitis can develop into a rare strain called encephalitis lethargica, in which these patients are either
Psychology 1300
Awakenings
The movie Awakenings starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro portrays the true story of a doctor named Dr. Malcolm Sayer, and the events of the summer of 1969 at a psychiatric hospital in New York. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who is a research physician, is confronted with a number of patients who had each been afflicted with a devastating disease called Encephalitis Lethargica. The illness killed most of the people who contracted it, but some were left living statues; speechless, motionless, and helpless.
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, when introduced to these patients and their prospective cases, took on what was considered an extremely unpredictable and radical experimental treatment. Being a primarily research physician, Dr. Sayer learns of a new drug called L-DOPA, today used extensively for Parkinson’s patients. Sayer injects an incredible amount of this drug into a patient named Leonard, played by Robert De Niro. When Leonard awakes from his catatonia, literally a 12 year old trapped in a 42 year olds body; Sayer decides to expand the treatment to the remaining of the catatonic post-encephalitic patients in his care. Dr. Malcolm Sayer ended up “waking up” a total of 16 people that summer, all of which, in a heartbreaking twist, slipped back into catatonia a few months after being awakened.
This movie clearly has a lot of ties to the field of psychology. The patient’s affliction, Encephalitis Lethargica, appeals to Biological Psychology. Encephalitis is an almost always fatal inflammation of the brain usually caused by some kind of infection, particularly infection of the spinal fluid, called meningitis; however the two are not always present together. This disease can cause psychological symptoms such as confusion, rage, and irritability. In rare cases, and in what was, in the 1930’s, labeled of epidemic proportions, encephalitis can develop into a rare strain called encephalitis lethargica, in which these patients are either