Download - Comatose State and Patients
Comatose State and Pa-tients
Ailey Kim
“The German film, Goodbye, Lenin!, romanti-
cizes and depicts the illness, which is coma, and
its patient less clearly therefore it is explicitly
problematic because people will believe wrong
medical depiction as reliable facts.”
…inaccurate repre-sentations of coma in the films like Goodbye, Lenin! will have an effect on people's understand of coma and expec-tations about recov-ery.
Dr. Eelco Wijdicksat the Mayo Clinic
The literature is [and the films are] to imitate
life, a reliable version of a world.
“it might be the world of a set of people in a
culture or of a whole society” (Acheson 5-6).
“The German film, Goodbye, Lenin! romanticizes
the illness and its patient and therefore this can be
problematic due to its possibility of conveying
wrong medical information to the viewers. However,
the film has certain reasons or purposes with its less
obvious depiction as all other literature and films do
with how and why they are written or made in cer-
tain ways.”
What is Coma? A deep state of unconsciousness; an individual is not able to
react to his or her environment
Unable to respond to stimulation consciously
Caused by an underlying illness, or result from head trauma
Not simply asleep
The brain wave activity differs from that of a sleeping per-
son
May not respond to external stimuli depending on how deep
the coma is
May show abnormal body movements.
May lie still and not respond to anything, or may move spon-
taneously: shaking, tremors, and jerking movements
The eyes may move abnormally
If the breathing muscles are affected, the patient's breathing
may be irregular, and a respirator may be required.
People don't usually suddenly 'wake up' from a coma, but tend
to come round gradually and regain brain function over time
When a person comes out of a coma, they may be agitated and
confused. They may need to be sedated for their own safety
Some people come out of a coma without any mental or physi-
cal disability, but most require at least some type of therapy to
regain mental and physical skills. They may need to relearn
how to speak, walk, and even eat. Others are never able to re-
cover completely.
Glasgow Coma scale
Fleming, Nic. "Relatives of Coma Victims 'may Be Swayed by Hollywood Falsities'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 09 May 2006. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
"Coma Signs and Symptoms." - Coma. Remedy's Health.com Communities, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition of Coma." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Works Cited