"Blink" and real life Locked-In Syndrome

G

GreenEyes

Hit and Run
While most of the crimes in the various CSI universes are unsettling, there are a few that occasionally creep me out on a whole different level. One of those episodes for me was CSI: NY's "Blink" with the criminal who was trying to put women in a "locked in" state to "give them freedom". The thought of being stuck in your body with no control whatsoever over anything but your eyes was creepy beyond belief to me, let alone the thought that this man had deliberately wanted to do this to someone else so he could have ultimate control over them.

Today on CNN, there is an article about a young man who really has Locked-In Syndrome and has for eight years, as well as a mention of another man who had this syndrome.

I knew when I saw this episode that this was almost certainly a real syndrome, which really added to the spine-chilling factor for me. I cannot imagine living the way this young man does and has for so long!
 
I know its one the eps that really stick out in my brain as one of the best they have done. It was very unsettling episode excellently executed by the writes and the cast.

Made all the more chilling by the possibility of the reality of it all...very creepy...

The news article is very sad, I cannot imagine what the young man is going through. To me it sounds like a living hell.
 
It's very real, and fortunately pretty rare. The most famous example is an editor of Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby (43), who suffered a major stroke and was left with this syndrome. He could only communicate by blinking. He managed to dictate a memoir, called "The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly", by blinking out one letter at a time. He died a year later.

He called the state of detachment he found himself in "the diving bell". He wrote: "My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set off for Tierra del Fuego, or for King Midas' Court."

His memoir has been made into a movie quite recently. It has received quite a lot of critical acclaim thus far.

It's hard to imagine being in a state like that, but Bauby chose to see it as freeing. Braver man than I.
 
I find it extremely disturbing, but I also find it interesting, especially with all of the stuff that the neurologists are doing to help him speak, mostly because I am doing Future Problem Solving in my class, and our state qualifying topic is neurotechnology, and the stuff we've researched so far are things like this.

I should e-mail this to my teacher.
 
"Blink" was probably one of the darkest pilot episodes that I've ever seen for a tv show; in terms of both the featured case and the overall look of the show at the beginning of the series.

It still is one of my favorite NY episodes thus far, because it really chilled me to see the effects of the Locked-In Syndrome has on a person. I can't imagine how horrifying it must've been to not be able to move a single muscle in your body except your eyelids. *shudder*

I truly admire the young man featured in the CNN article, for not giving up and continuing to live his life as best as he can despite his condition. I don't even know if I could've held on for this long if I were in the same situation. Eep.

My respect also goes out to Jean-Dominique Bauby, for dictating and editing an entire book just by blinking his left eye! May he rest in peace.
 
How sad, and how difficult it must be for his friends and family. :(

"Blink" was really haunting because I think something like locked-in syndrome is one of the worst fates people can imagine.

I'm very curious about Bauby's memoir--I'll have to look for that! Have you read it, penguinpie?
 
^ Yes, a few years ago. I saw a documentary on TV about Bauby and it prompted me to track down the book.

It meanders through the situation he now finds himself in, memories of his life, his family, (his mistress) and his travels, as well as the flights of imagination he takes now he is confined to a bed. Fed through a gastric tube, he imagines sumptuous meals and, being French, he loves his food. He revisits places he has been and places he will or could never see. It is intriguing primarily because it is a unique look into the mind of a man cut down in his prime and faced with a situation many would find intolerable. Well worth a look.

I hope young Erik gets the same chance. I do wonder how much stem cell research could help people in his position?

I enjoyed "Blink" as a pilot, but it was slightly marred for me as I'd only recently finished reading a book called "Sleepyhead" by Mark Billingham (2001), which had an almost identical plot. That is, three women have been found dead with identical marks on their necks. A fourth is found still alive, but with artificially induced locked in syndrome: the success after the earlier failures.

It made me feel that they had been a bit lazy and just lifted the idea wholesale.
 
^Was there some controversy over "Blink" and the "Sleepyhead" book--I seem to recall something like that around the time the ep aired, but I could be misremembering.

"The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly" sounds like a fantastic read...I will have to look for it! The nice thing about the movie coming out now is that the book should be relatively easy to find; bookstores tend to feature books that are tied in with movies.
 
^ I wouldn't be surprised if there had been some controversy. There were more than a few parallels. I kind of doubt that it was coincidence.

I'm looking forward to the movie; it has received very positive press. It is directed by Julian Schnabel, who also did Before Night Falls. I love that film and I am optimistic about this one as well.
 
^^ It may be such a really hard hit for anyone who suffers or anyone who knows someone who suffers the locked-in syndrome.
And it was hard seeing it on "Blinks", plus what a way to start a new show...

Btw, I can remember an ER episode (I neither know about the tittle nor the season) centered on a woman who had some kind of brain damage and was left on a locked-in syndrome state (maybe it wasn't exactely the same syndrome) for a few days. And that episode was told from the women point of view, it is, the camera was her eyes, and it was like if you were the one lying on the bed. It was exasperating hearing people around you and not being able to interact with them.

yas

********

"I'm glad you stayed"
 
yeah, this one defiantly gave me the creeps.

Another thing that creeps me out is being alive during surgery. There is a situation that can occur when going under for surgery, where your body is completely paralyzed, but you are still awake and can feel everything. Unfortunately, since you are paralyzed, you can't say or let anyone know that you are awake, and you would have to feel everything during the surgery. That just creeps me out SO much. It is rare, but it happens. They just made a movie about it, i will NOT watch it.
 
"Blink" is one of CSI: NY's best episodes and probably one of the franchises' best. I remember watching (I was like 12 when this episode aired) and thinking how creepy and sad it was to have Locked-in syndrome.

It's sad knowing it really does exist. That article was a great read though. Wishes from me go out to that family.
 
I remember reading the 'sleepy head' book and being very disturbed. Then I saw Blink, and was even more disturbed.

I did some research on it though and asked some of my medical lecturers. It's called having a Cerebromedullospinal Disconnection and most often results from a stroke (it usually affects elderly patients) and it thankfully not very commom.

I also found out that patients retain feeling in much of their body. Though they can't physically repsond to the stimlus, they can feel it.

Scary.
 
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