Neuro Note 4

The movie Me Before You perfectly articulates the journey that one individual goes through after suffering from a spinal cord injury. Will Traynor, suffers a SCI after being hit by a car. After the accident Will becomes paralyzed and struggles to participate in anything that he loves doing. He becomes extremely depressed and finds no meaning in life. Lou Clark is then hired on as his caregiver. Lou has a spunk for life unlike anyone he has ever met. She is extremely intimated by Will’s grim outlook on life and by his inability to find happiness and meaning in day to day activities. Lou begins to break down the wall that Will has built up to those around him and helps him to begin to participate in tings that he may enjoy. They attend a concert together, have a picnic, and attend a wedding together. These are all things Will would not have participated in had Lou not helped him to get out of the house and engage in meaningful activities. This movie really shows the affect that purposeful activities can have on an individual who may feel like they have nothing to live for anymore. While the end of this movie is grim, I feel as though the piece that I took away from it is that by adding purpose and a positive light to our clients lives, we can inspire them to participate even when they have little to no hope left. 

I chose this movie because it is an extremely touching movie and really highlights what it must be like to go from living a life as an active young adult to being a quadriplegic. Will was very depressed and had a lot of anger issues coming to terms with the fact that his life would never be quite the same. I can imagine that this is something very common for individuals who suffer from a spinal cord injury. This really puts into perspective how it’s imperative to put on an OT lens and try to look at the difference that we can make in our clients lives no matter what the circumstance.