In this review, Rebecca Pope discusses the International Booker Prize winning novel, 'Time Shelter'. Georgi Gospodinov discusses transporting patients with Alzheimer's Disease back in time in a 'clinic for the past', as a promising treatment. But is this always a good idea?...
Bulgarian author, Georgi Gospodinov, brings us his third novel, ‘Time Shelter’, which brings us into the world of Alzheimer’s Disease through the eyes of a fictional narrator, while discussing the utility of immersive therapies.
‘Time Shelter’ was a fascinating read. Having completed a Neuroscience MSci degree, I had scientific knowledge of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) already, but this text was based on the patient experience - a new angle for me as a preclinical researcher. Fortunately, I have never had someone close to me develop AD, so have not personally experienced how awful it is for a friend or family member.
In the book, Gospodinov delves into the idea of immersive therapies, alongside a clinician, Gaustine, creating floors of a clinic focused on a specific year, or decade, of times past. By utilising seemingly fictional patient stories - their backgrounds, the time they are living in, their changing relationships, their response to the immersion - Gospodinov discusses his interactions with them and the emotions that are raised both for them, as well as within him, in-depth during every observation. In fact, the clinic is so successful that individuals with no memory loss are also keen to experience the past!
It is difficult to know how each person will experience their decline and loss of memory after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, or in which time they will be ‘living’ for the foreseeable future. Will they be ‘reliving’ a traumatic time of their life, or will it be a place of comfort? How can we support them and make them comfortable? This is yet another example of why personalised therapies are so important.
We are collections of our memories - if they are unwillingly stripped from us, who remains?
Whilst creating these realistic and dystopian, frozen moments in time, Gospodinov highlighted the attention to detail that is required, including about things that in the moment do not seem particularly important (advertisements, trending colours, widespread opinions, major news stories, popular children’s toys). It gave me an appreciation for the things immediately around me as I was sitting reading the book in the park - the fashion, the language, the 2024 obsession with running!
We are collections of our memories - if they are unwillingly stripped from us, who remains? Do we instead become a collection of the memories that other people possess of us? It is incredible that something, be it a scent or a piece of music, can suddenly bring people back to themselves, reanimating them (and sometimes giving seemingly non-verbal people the power of speech). Knowing what these prompts are is the major difficulty, and a clinician must spend ample amounts of time with the patient or their friends and family to gather personal information to try to guess at these things. Unfortunately, it seems that in these cases, the brain is effectively locking away our memories and forgetting to label the key…
Is it right to have somebody living in another time with the ‘real’ world passing them by outside?
The novel also touches on the ethics of the treatments; is it right to have somebody living in another time with the ‘real’ world passing them by outside? Gospodinov also raises the question: is it always a good idea to feed their illusion? The example he uses is of a lady who has returned to living in a time of perpetual fear, as a prisoner of Auschwitz. Certainly, there are very real moral questions to be asked here, to be considered on a case by case basis. The latter half of the book focused on the dystopian introduction of a political voting system for European countries to select which decade they would like to live in. Gospodinov went into intricate detail about the politics, music, affluence, and other factors of each country in the decades chosen. This was an intriguing and terrifying concept, but was also a bit dry to read.
With our ageing society, AD is becoming more prevalent, and the likelihood that we will know someone affected by the disease is ever increasing. In 2019, more than 55.2 million people were experiencing dementia in old age and this number is predicted to increase to 78 million by 2030 (1). It is becoming more and more urgent to develop therapies that can provide immediate comfort for patients, with the long-term goal of developing preventative treatments. I think that immersive experiences would be a relief for people with AD who are distressed and confused, largely stuck in the past. The isolation and frustration that patients must feel to not be understood and to be alone in their experience is truly devastating and difficult for those around them.
Overall, ‘Time Shelter’ was an interesting read, with its title being a clever nod to ‘bomb shelter’, implying that the immersive therapies are providing a literal shelter from time. It
prompts the reader to reflect about the best, personalised care for people with AD and raises moral questions surrounding treatment.
Reference:
1 - Yi, X., Liu, Z., Li, H. et al. Immersive experiences in museums for elderly with cognitive disorders: a user-centered design approach. Sci Rep 14, 1971 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51929-4
This post was written by Rebecca Pope and edited by Julia Dabrowska, with graphics produced by Lilly Green. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.
コメント