Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, poetry therapy, corona virus, music therapy, new normal
Introduction
The outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic in December 2019 has effectively changed the course of human endeavour the world over. Every facet of human endeavour be it health, economy, social, political and agriculture etc are
radically revolutionized as a result of the corona virus pandemic which has ushered in the new normal. One aspect of human activities that is mostly affected is the health sector of which many people are not only infected but the death toll all over the world is equally astonishing. Medical officials and hospital facilities were stressed to the limit and infected persons had to be moved to open spaces and other buildings to receive treatment in a kind of makeshift arrangement in order to battle the pandemic. Wearing of masks, social distancing, washing of hands, elbow bumps instead of handshake become the order of the day. In this wise, Fernandez, (Elbowbumps online: n.d) observed that:
In the new age of the corona virus (Covid-19), the concept to keep in mind is “social distancing” which should put a pause on the oldfashioned handshake and friendly hug. Instead, say hello with an elbow bump the safer way to physically greet somebody who is healthy for now… the term “social distancing” referring to keeping a physical distance from each other to avoid the further spread of covid-19 is reverberating across society including workplaces, schools, churches, medical facilities, airports, sporting events and any public place where large crowds gather.
The new normal occasioned by the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic has not only changed people’s perception and mindset but has equally affected the routine of activities by literary artists, medical professionals and other areas of human endeavour . The case of the sick in over stretched hospital facilities can no longer be left to medical professionals alone whom it has been observed equally require care themselves to battle stress and depression that sets in, in the cause of rendering their professional services. Moran (Caregivers online: n.d.) said:
…given the depth of the stress that many caregivers experience, traditional, educational, learning and spiritual care tools must be rethought, and new approaches must be brought forward to help people unlock and give expression to traumatic experience. I’ve found poetry to be invaluable too… because, poetry, the arts and facilitated dialogue offer an innovative different way into self-expression and to solidarity among people who have experienced similar stress.
If the caregivers need care themselves, it then means that Alzheimer’s patients need intensive care the same way patients with other terminal diseases are equally cared for.
Statement of the Problem
This research seeks to show that the relationship between literary artists and medical professionals in terms of collaborative engagement is generally low .Hence, it demonstrates that poetry as supplementary therapy is not given adequate attention in Nigeria Medical Centres.
Theoretical Framework
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic proposition will be used as the probable theoretical frame work of this study. This will explore the connection between poetry and medicine with particular emphasis on the neuroimaging responses of the brain to poetry and boosting of memory of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Freud's theories emerged in bits after series of clinical investigations which gave rise to his proposal that “there were at least three levels of the mind” of which McLeod (Freud theories online: n.d.) listed thus:
The conscious- the small amount of mental activity we know about,
The subconscious-things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried; The unconscious-things we are unaware of and cannot become aware of.
In line with this observation therefore, one of the things we should be aware of and consciously put into practice at this age is the relationship between arts and science.
Research Objective
There is a strong link between Literature and medicine of which ancient scholars and scientists no doubt optimally capitalized and utilized effectively. Over the years however, this great fit in human development has been pushed to the back burner and at its lowest ebb! There is therefore the need to reemphasize this through a collaborative effort by literary artists and scientists. This is to engender healing of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s diseases and other ailments.
Corroboratory this view, therefore, Owonibi (the nation online, n.d) asserted that: There is a very strong link between poetry and healing…there is a bridge between poetic expression and healing which we did not countenance for a very longtime. Great scholars and philosophers have known right from the start that there's a big connection between poetry and therapy. According to a great poet, William Carlos William, ‘People die everyday for lack of knowledge of what is in poetry'. In the cultural and African context, incantation is poetry in oral literature.
This link between poetry and healing which great scholars and philosophers have greatly utilized in the past have been jettisoned to the extent that only few people even among present generation of crop of scholars acknowledge or even know the efficacy of poetry in therapeutic healing ! Hence, many people suffer from chronic and terminal sicknesses like Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, etc without the desired healing.
Poetry, Alzheimer’s Diseases and the New Normal: Alzheimer’s disease which is characterized by loss of memory and language disorientation among others is a neurodegenerative disease in humans which attacks the brain. The disease was named Alzheimer’s after Alois Alzheimer (wikipedidia:
n.d.)Who was credited to be the first to describe the disease in 1906. Alzheimer was a German psychiatrist and pathologist. Alzheimer’s disease ranks in the same class with other terminal illnesses such as cancer and heart diseases. Hence, the need to seek alternative ways to guarantee therapeutic healing of patients. This ailment which inflicts especially the age has generally taken its toll on families and societies with heavy financial burden. It is in this light that Biebel et-al (2011) stated that:
For many people, the prospect of deterioration in brain function is feared more than any other ailment of aging. Joints may give way and vision dim without eroding personal integrity. The brain, however is essential to who we are. Its grey matter is the centre piece of the living tapestry of personal identity (p.11).
The importance of the brain in the overall functioning of the mind and body system cannot be downplayed. Hence, adequate care is needed to keep it in good shape. It is therefore critical for Alzheimer’s patients to undergo intensive therapeutic care which the medical professionals alone can no longer cope with, thus; a collaborative effort between literary artists in the humanities and medical scientists is crucial.
Literature Review
However, there have been arguments that the link between science and art is viewed by many as strange bedfellows. Adam (An FMRI Study, n.d)found that:
Some people say it is impossible to reconcile science and art but new brain imaging technology means we are now seeing a growing body of evidence about how the brain responds to the experience of art. This was a preliminary study, but it is all part of work that is helping us to make psychological, biological, anatomical sense of art (online, n.p). The breakthrough in the invention of the Functional magnetic resonance imaging machine has enabled scientist to know exactly what is happening in the human skull. Biebel et-al (2011) further observed that:
The burgeoning field of neuroscience, fueled by an amazing and increasing array of non-invasion technologies that can “see” what is going on inside your skull, is nothing short of fourth societal revolution according to Zach Lynch in his compelling book, the Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science is changing our world: The first three Agricultural society, industrial society, and the information society(p.12)
The breath taking breakthrough in neuroscience has tremendously witnessed a lot of success in terms of observing the working of the human brain. Lynch(as cited in Biebel et-al ,2011 said:
“Today we sit on the cusp of another overwhelming societal transformation, beginning to feel the lift of a wave potentially more dramatic than any of the three that came before. It is the emerging neuroscience”(p.12).
The success story of the neuroscientists, invariably leads to more studies to ascertain expressly how poetry responds to the brain. Studies by Assisting Hands(assisting hands online ,n.d.)discovered that:
Studies have been done on poetry to determine how it affects the brain and whether its different than listening to music or watching films. One study found that heart rate increased when individuals listened to poetry compared to other mediums, and they slowly built up goosebumps as they listened… other studies have shown that right brain benefits from reading poetry and allows the listener or reader to be more open to new perspectives, and its even been shown that the right brains are actually hardwired for poetry and can recognized poetic harmony without any training or experience(n.p.)
What this means is that regular reading of poems can help a great deal in boosting memory. Hence, it is important for Alzheimer’s patients to be assisted to read or recite poems regularly. According to Family friend (n.d.), United States former President Ronald Reagan established the Alzheimer’s awareness month in November 1983. More than a million people suffered from the disease at the time but it has risen to over 5million people in United States. The essence of inaugurating the Alzheimer’s Association is to create awareness and drum up support of public spirited individuals to drive the vision. It is however crucial to extend this advocacy to all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria especially the rural areas, so as to enlighten the various communities, especially the aged that are inflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. Good health is no doubt priceless, so it is therefore important that people value their health. This is of paramount importance in view of the new normal occasioned by the corona virus pandemic.
It is in this regard that Charon et-al (Contribution to clinical practice, n.d.) asserted that, the gap between literature and the sciences, especially as it relates to the field of medicine is being linked. Although, many are doubtful of the possibility of the relationships between poetry and medicine. Medical schools incorporated the study of literature into their curriculum as far back as 1972 and medical students are studying literature as part of their courses. Universities such as Havard, Columbia, etc. have started the teaching of literature as part of the medical education curriculum (n.p). The wall between literature and medicine is being broken down and Stammers (2015) corroborated this view that:
…the art of healing arguably began with poets; there is a tradition that poet Sophocles played a prominent role in establishing the Athenian centre of the healing cult of Aesculapius in 420BC and there is certainly a long line of physician poets stretching from as far back least Fredrick Schiller (1759-1805) and John Keats (1795-1821) right to Dannie Abse and Peter Goldworthy, to take just two or more contemporary examples (pp, 127-28).
Since the art of healing was no doubt began by poets just as Stammers asserted, it then goes a long way to indicate that the link between poetry and medicine is not today’s phenomenon but has been there for a long time. Hence, the need for intensification by scholars in the humanities and scientists in order to reconnect and ensure synergetic relationship.
Poetry Intervention as Supplementary Therapy In Medicine
The use of poetry as supplementary therapy is not a novel affair. There have been precedents about the use of poetry in medicine. According to Sophie (2016): There are many precedents for the use of literature in the medical workshop environment. Most prominently, poetry, short stories, plays and films are commonly used as teaching tools for medical students. However, in all cases that we have encountered, the primary aim of such literary interventions is patients based. Literature is used with the aim of improving the doctor’s empathetic powers... (pp,39-41).
The use of literature in medicine is patient-based because such intervention is aimed at ascertaining the level of recovery of the patient. This is crucial as it relates to the restoration of memory of patients with Alzheimer’s syndrome. One of the basic area where literature is important beyond pure aesthetics is the specific response in the brain when it is stimulated through the reading or recitation of poetry. In patient with Alzheimer’s disease, this stimulation leads to gradual restoration of memory. In Memory, poetry,brain (n.d.) ,it has been stated that:
“A patient suffering from Alzheimer’s disease can be subjected to regular therapeutic treatment through constant recitation of short poetry lines to boost memory. Poetry no doubt is very vital to boost the memory of Alzheimer’s patients and this is possible through regular therapeutic rehearsals geared towards the consolidation of long term memory”. Regular recitation of poem no doubt assist tremendously to restore memory. So, the patient should therefore undergo this at intervals. Furthermore, In Britannica (online, n.d.) it’s clearly indicated that, “Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which is an organic chemical that contains detail genetic information and instructions for protein synthesis is found in most cells of organism… In the same vein The DNA (Double strand break, n.d.) is a very important aspect of reproduction in which genetic heredity occurs when the DNA is pass down from parent or parents to offspring “. In the same vein, the double-strand breaks (DSB’s) are part of the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).The DSB's is said to be responsible for ‘neuronal loss in
a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases' (DNA-Double strand break: n.p).The DNA is implicated in the brain which eventually results in a degenerative disorder leading to
Alzheimer’s disease .
Thadathi, et-al (2020) observed that: In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that accumulation of
DNA/DSB plays an important role in Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) pathogenesis…interestingly, increased accumulation of DNA DSB's and altered DNA repair Proteins were also observed in cellular models of AD. These findings provided compelling evidence that AD is associated accumulation of DNA DSB and /or alteration of DSB repair proteins which may influence an important early part of the pathway toward neural damage and memory loss in AD (pp, 118-31).
Although Double Strand Breaks(DSB) which is an aspect of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is said to be implicated in neurodegenerative disorders yet they may also be critical for learning and memory (Memory, Poetry, Brain : n.d. ).Poetry in this regard is very crucial in terms of learning and memory boost because it is key as supplementary therapy in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Data Presentations and Analysis
In the poem of Dickinson (1891) “It was not death, for I stood up”, It primarily focused on depression. It is a quatrain; six- stanza poem of four lines each. The persona strives to understand herself and her environment. It is a poem of overwhelming depression as the persona strives to understand her strange condition and her feelings.
Thus, she struggles to acclimatize to her new environment and changing status:
It was not Death, for I Stood up
And all the Dead, lie down-
It was not Night for all the Bells
Put out their Tongues for Noon…
The figures I have seen Set orderly, for Burial
Reminded me, of mine
…Without a chance, or spar-
Or even a Report of land
To justify – Despair (pp, 223-23)
The persona seems to be in a strange world and cannot even fathom nor explain the pathetic state. This she tries to found out and explain n the first line of the first stanza as it seems she is dead. However , by looking around and being able to stand up to her feet clearly indicates that there is still hope for her live
.This is because she realized that the dead can not stand nor walk! The last line of the 6th stanza puts it succinctly…or even
a report of land…to justify -Despair! (pp, 222-23).This shows clearly that the persona is passing through a traumatic condition that leads to depression. This is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. The anxiety by which the persona describes the aging in the poem depicts a feminist voice!
The poem was published post humuosly as collection of poems and edited by Emily Dickinson’s two friends; Higgins,
T.W., and Todd Mabel, Looms in 1891. In a nutshell, this poem depicts an atmosphere of gloominess and depression which is undoubtedly a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Although depression in patients with Alzheimer’s disease may not be as severe like other sicknesses; the symptom might come and go.
Another poem worth considering in this regard is Edward J., Bricker's He Sleeps A Lot. The persona expresses his worries when he observes that his sick father who sleeps a lot can barely recognize him as his son! The poem is structured into two unequal stanzas and lines. The first stanza is 19 lines whereas the second stanza is 22 lines. It has no rhyming scheme and the atmosphere depict that of anxiety and gloominess:
He sleeps A lot Again,
He sleeps in his chair
This man who does not remember
That I sat there
…Although I do remember him of someone
He knew once somewhere in the past (family friend poems, n.p).
Although the persona is sad about the failing health of his father, he is thrilled to be addressed as a guest who visits regularly. The juxtaposition of nice man a total stranger with the son a burden clearly depicts the extent the persona's father has lost his memory. The situation is so bad that the old man does not even remember eating breakfast or the room he has lived for the past one year at the home(family friend poem: n.p). The Home the persona mentions here is most likely to be Old People’s Home. In Nigeria for instance Old People’s Homes are very few and the available ones are mostly in Southern States of the country. Hence, the need for Government to establish more. Eze (online,n.d.) aptly observes that:
Care for the elderly has not been of priority to successive governments
In Nigeria. The 6th Senate has passed a ‘Bill for an act to establish a National Centre for elderly persons for General purpose of providing welfare and recreation facilities for the elderly and the designing of development programmes and actions for the advancement of elderly persons in Nigeria’(pp,07-11).
In this situation where facilities for the elderly are lacking the utmost need to care for the sick, especially patients with terminal diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases would be cumbersome. Government and University authorities therefore need to establish Centres for Poetry Therapy in that direction. Stakeholders and scholars in the humanities and medical practitioners need to close ranks to reduce the pains and suffering of Alzheimer’s patients, care givers and their families by incorporating poetry therapy into their services for quick recovery of the patients.
In another dimension, Fleming (n.d.), views the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease from another perspective in her poem titled, I'M Still Here:
My looks are nothing special,
My face reveals my age,
My body shows some wear and tear,
…One minute I know what I plan to do, And the next it may just slip my mind.
… I always compare my older self To those younger versions of me
…And I know that there’s no one in this world quite like me
And no one who has more to give (n.p)
The poem is four lines of eleven stanzas which is a quatrain with irregular rhyming scheme. The persona is so disturbed about her current looks because she is aging fast and that has become a source of concern to her. She sees a total stranger when she looks at the mirror. This is coupled with her lost of memory as she losts things all the time (n.p). The persona tries to encourage herself that she is unique with no one just like her in the entire world. This indeed seems to be her justification to desire to live! It is in this regard that poetry therapists can be vital to rekindle hope of Alzheimer’s patients and engender treatment through a collaborative effort with medical practitioners. Blank (n.d.) observed that:
…Biblio/poetry therapy, one of the creative arts therapies, is the use of the written word (although it may be read out loud) to bring healing and personal growth…The Roman physician Soranus prescribed tragedy for his manic patients and comedy for the depressed ones-and can be called the first poetry therapist on record.
The use of the written word (poetry) can be a pathway to healing .Thus, the importance of establishing a Centre for Poetry Therapy to administer poetry as a supplement for therapeutic healing of patients with Alzheimer’s disease cannot be down played. It is in line with this that Fletcher (n.d.) advocated that “literature should be taught like science “and that he is on a mission “to plug literature back into electric heart of contemporary life and culture “.
Conclusion
It is worthwhile to state that in several Universities in the Western world, literature is a core course in the medical schools curriculum which is however not the case in most African Universities. It is therefore high time to incorporate the study of literature and especially poetry as part of the medical school curriculum in Nigeria. The study of literature in medical schools should be introduced. This is crucial to bridge the gap between science and the arts. Furthermore, in this age of the corona virus pandemic the scholars should beam their searchlight to arts to find respite to the ravaging corona virus pandemic. This is possible by establishing Centres for Poetry Therapy in Nigerian Medical Centres. Courses in Medical Humanities should be mounted as a matter of urgency in Nigeria Universities and other African countries as a decisive milestone of turning to arts for therapeutic healing and managing of Alzheimer’s disease. Corroborating this view, Fletcher (n.d.) advocated that” literature should be taught like science” as he is on a mission “to plug literature back into electric heart of contemporary life and culture“. In essence, the world has witnessed a dramatic boost all through the Agricultural, Industrial and the Information, Communication and Technological revolutions. So, as the world is as the threshold of a giant leap into the neurorevolution, the
literary artists and scholars in the humanities as a matter of utmost importance embrace this great research space.
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