Dr. Alice Howland also known as Julianna Moore is a famous linguistics professor at Columbia University. When words begin to escape her and she begins to get lost in her daily runs, Alice faces a shocking diagnosis: early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The lives of Alice and her family face an unnerving test as this terminal degenerative neurological disease gradually advances towards an inevitable end that everyone fears. Along the way, Alice struggles not only to fight the rot within, but also to make the most of her remaining time to discover adoration and harmony to make life substantially beneficial. I have identified several theories to include in this article that are closely related to the main character of Still Alice. The genetic theory of aging is the first widespread theory in the film. Furthermore, the psychosocial theory of integrity versus despair and ecosystem theory also emerged in the film. Genetic Theory explains to us that life expectancy is largely dictated by the qualities we inherit. According to the hypothesis, our lifespan is fundamentally decided at the moment of conception and depends largely on our parents and their qualities. The Integrity vs. Despair phase begins when the maturing person begins to deal with the issue of his or her own mortality. The onset of this phase is often triggered by life events such as retirement, the passing of a spouse, the loss of companions and colleagues, dealing with a terminal illness, and other changes in important tasks in the course of daily life. During the integrity/despair phase, individuals look back on the existence lived and left with a feeling of satisfaction for a real existence lived or with a feeling of disappointment and despondency for a real existence wasted. Ecosystem theory or also known as ecological theory is concerned, at a fundamental level, with the connection and association of life forms and their environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The theory of integrity versus despair originated from Erik Erikson. Erik Homburger Erikson was of German descent and was an American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst who was a pioneer in the field of child psychology research by providing his developmental hypothesis with his "eight psychosocial stages". Erikson believed that character is created in a preordained order through eight stages of psychosocial advancement, from early stages to adulthood. During each stage, the individual encounters a psychosocial emergency or crisis that could have a constructive or pessimistic outcome for character development. As indicated by the hypothesis, successful completion of each stage results in solid character and the acquisition of fundamental ethics. This theory applies to social work because it enlightens us deeply on how an individual should develop socially thus forming him into the individual you see today. The beginning of this particular phase can be triggered by life events, traumas, etc. This theory then relates to the film because we see the main character go through this specific phase towards the end of the film. Ecosystem theory was developed by the American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenner developed ecological systems theory to clarify how the intrinsic characteristics of a child and his or her environment combine to influence how he or she will develop and grow. This theory can be applied to social work because an individual's environment can have adirect effect on development by making him interact with the environment differently than the next individual. I will analyze Dr. Alice Howland, a well-known linguistics professor at Columbia University who recently turned 50 in the film “StillAlice”. Howland presents himself as a healthy 50-year-old. Howland is an unimposing woman, but not underweight. Howland remains dynamic in her work and public activity and, in addition to having a tumultuous existence, seems optimistic. Howland lives with her significant other John and the two have three developed children, all of whom live away from home. I believe that Alice keeps herself very well groomed and makes great efforts to ensure that she is fit and does not eat foods that could cause harm to her body. In the film we see that she loves to run through the city streets to stay in peak physical condition for a 50-year-old woman. When I see how Alice dresses, she likes to keep her style very simple and not try to stand out too much. At the beginning of the film, when she goes to speak at another school, she wears a simple blouse, dress and heels. This also changes as we delve into the film more, she starts wearing more comfortable clothes because she doesn't go out as much anymore after the diagnosis. Additionally, his tone and mood change drastically throughout the film. At the beginning of the film, we see that she is light-hearted and always smiling, eager to be with family and overall satisfied with her life and nothing could distract her from her high horse. When he discovered the early onset of Alzheimer's disease, his mood and tone during the film shifted to a darker side. We see her develop a quick temper towards her family, especially her daughter Lydia Howland. She becomes dissatisfied with life and we see her do things that are outside of her usual character. What brought Alice to services are the inconsistency patterns related to her memory that she has noticed are starting to become much more frequent and it is having an effect on her. One of the first instances in the film where we see her Alzheimer's begin to manifest itself is early in the film, when she flew out to speak at another school and was unable to form a word that she should have known to pronounce it . in front of the classroom. Alice took the trouble to see a doctor and talk to him about her memory problems. He then does some exercises and asks her about her background and family medical history, she believes she might have a brain tumor but obviously that wasn't the case. Her family history of early-onset Alzheimer's disease dates back to her father who had the disease and was sadly passed down to Alice. Alice was not very familiar with her father and both of her parents are (in the film) deceased. She says her father was an alcoholic and that she remained very distant from him and his home. The neurologist explains to Alice and her husband John that the disease has been accumulating for at least the last 7 years without her realizing it. The movie doesn't really tell us what past events led to his current state other than his family history. Alice explains to the dean/chair of the department in which she teaches that “I had a hard time teaching last semester but I didn't realize how much it showed” when questioned about the reviews she received while teaching the class. The intensity of the disease becomes more and more prevalent as the film progresses. For example, Alice is fired from the university when she openly declares the severity of her illness. She and John decide to go to their seaside residence away from home, that's when we see how intense the illness actually is. She is becoming progressively forgetful, repeatedly asking John when he is going to a meeting andwhen Lydia comes. They were supposed to go for a run, but she can't remember where the bathroom is and gets her jeans wet. He cries because he never remembers where he seems to be. Alice's family history was briefly featured in the film when she went to the neurologist. Both of Alice's parents are deceased, one from liver failure (father) and the other died in a car accident when she was only 18 (mother). Alice described him as “incoherent and unaware” during the later stages of his life. It appears her parents were separated or divorced because she said she lived in New Hampshire, which appeared to be far from the residence she resided in when he was alive. He says his father died of cirrhosis, a late-stage disease caused by numerous types of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and constant alcohol addiction. Alice's father was an alcoholic and also gave Alice early onset Alzheimer's. Alice's social relationships were all pretty healthy at the beginning of the film, with no real signs of arguments or anything negative. I think the only relationship in question is with his daughter Lydia, their relationship is very difficult. At the beginning of the film, we see Alice visit Lydia's home in California after going to speak at a local college. They go out to eat and Lydia is discussing with Alice how her acting career is going and Alice then says "Lydia, don't you think it's time to reconsider things, you're so smart, there's so much more you could do with the your life." Alice disagrees with Lydia's life choices and believes she should go to school like her other two children and have a "real career." Their relationship seems to fluctuate throughout the film, and her condition ultimately brings them closer. Alice also appears to be only with family and not friends in the film. After the beginning, all the relationships he developed changed throughout the film. Alice and her husband John began to be very distant as her condition worsened and he barely wanted to be near her as she could be emotionally unstable at times. Alice is a linguistics professor at Columbia University and was very good at her job and even created her own linguistics book called “Neurons to Names”. She was well respected in her department and had been teaching the subject for quite some time. His pre-start performance was outstanding and he seemed to love his job and had a comfortable position in the department. We see that she was asked to speak at UCLA about her knowledge of linguistics and how young children communicate with adults. As the disease gradually showed its symptoms, her performance in class dropped and students began complaining to the department about the course, leading her to confess that she had an early onset of Alzheimer's. The department let her go and now she is forced to deal with the disease and prepare for the worst. In the film we don't really know his past medical history, other than the brief description of his family's medical history. His current medical condition is early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease, a very rare disease that affects an individual at an earlier age than usual and the symptoms appear to be worsening at an alarming rate. This structure is exceptionally rare. Two or three hundred individuals have qualities that legitimately contribute to Alzheimer's disease. These individuals begin to show symptoms of the disease in their 30s, 40s, or 50s. An exceptionally small number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease have the early-onset form. A large number of them are in their 40s and 50s when the disease takes hold. There are no signs of substance or alcohol abuse regarding Alice in the film, they drink winetraditionally, but that's about it. Before the diagnosis, Alice appeared to be a very healthy person, with no signs of other serious health problems. In the film he has to take various medicines to suppress the symptoms of the disease called Aricept and Namenda. Aricept improves the capacity of nerve cells in the brain. It works by preventing the degradation of a compound called acetylcholine. Individuals suffering from dementia usually have lower levels of this compound, which is significant for memory, reasoning, thinking and resolution procedures. Namenda (memantine)decreases the activity of synthetic substances in the mind that can aggravate the manifestations of Alzheimer's disease, used mainly for very severe dementia leading to Alzheimer's. Alice also has trouble sleeping during the film and asked her doctor for several medicines that would be powerful enough to put her to sleep. The theories we have chosen to work on in our analysis have a direct connotation with the film and the main character. situation. I believe that theories help us understand why certain things come up in the film and allow us, as social work students are able to analyze the problem and understand that this is why the character behaves in a certain way, etc. . When I watch different scenes throughout the movie and then refer to the theories I can easily represent them with little to no confusion and understanding. There are scenes in the film that helped me understand the client (Alice) and the theory. Erikson's Ego Integrity vs Despair is the stage in which people reflect on the life they have lived and walk away with a sense of fulfillment for a life well lived or with a sense of regret and despair for a wasted life. A scene related to this theory is when Alice gave her speech towards the end of the film. Alice was totally satisfied with the results she had achieved in her life, but she was also embarrassed by what she had to face since having the disease. Alice handled integrity and desperation and lived in fear of not being the same woman everyone knew and loved. She gave an exchange speech that she took away the fear, that she has accomplished a lot in everyday life, and that she was happy with the woman she had become, and that she will no longer be embarrassed by the disease. This scene helps me understand the theory because it is described as a stage where people reflect on a crisis. Alice has early onset Alzheimer's and didn't see it coming. She is in fact going through a crisis that is leading her to reflect on her successes and realize that she had lived a good life before the crisis. Also, the genetic theory of aging is another theory that I was able to analyze in this film and it was very popular. When Alice goes to her neurologist with John, she discovers that the disease has been passed down through a family member, making it a familial disease. It also means that since Alice has the gene, perhaps she could have passed it on to her offspring as well. There is a scene where Alice's daughter Anna calls her and tells Alice that she has indeed tested positive for the gene, there is a 100% chance that the gene will later develop into Alzheimer's disease. These scenes help me understand the theory better because they allow me to understand the power of genetics and how it can profoundly influence lifespan. Ecosystem or ecological theory is related to the way an individual interacts with their environment. There are several scenes where we see Alice having problems in her environment while experiencing symptoms and this has a profound effect on her emotionally. Also, she no longer has the intellect she once had and doesn't meet her basic needs on her own, so it's very frustrating. One scene I remember is when.