Novel Highlights the Transformative Power of Support Groups

Still Alice is a 2009 novel by Lisa Genova, a fictional account of a professor of cognitive psychology who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of fifty, while at the height of her career. At the opening of the novel, Alice Howland, who has a loving and supportive husband and three young adult children, has noticed some minor changes - difficulty concentrating and frequently misplacing items around the house. When she becomes lost in a familiar square a mile from her home, she begins to suspect that there are more significant physical changes taking place. Her first suspicion is menopause, and when she seeks the advice of her physician, she begins the journey toward a terrifying diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

The writing is clean and simple, and I found it a very enjoyable read. Although many of the "uglier" aspects of dementia are not confronted in this novel, I appreciated the author's descriptions of some of the complex family issues that arise -- the initial denial of the diagnosis, a husband who jumps into high-gear to "take action" and "fix the problem," and children who disagree about the nature of the disease and quarrel over how best to care for their mother.

As her career comes to an early end and she becomes dependent upon others for the tasks of everyday life as the disease progresses, Alice battles depression and struggles to maintain her identity. She turns to her health care system for support services and is surprised to learn that there are no local support groups for individuals living with memory impairment. So she starts one herself in her home:

"They shared stories of their earliest symptoms, their struggles to get a correct diagnosis, their strategies for coping and living with dementia. They nodded and laughed and cried over stories of lost keys, lost thoughts, and lost life dreams. Alice felt unedited and truly heard. She felt normal."

Having facilitated a support group for individuals with early-stage memory loss for the past six years, I can testify to the healing power of social support for a person feeling isolated and frightened by a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. I thank author Lisa Genova for bringing this resource to light, and encourage families everywhere to reach out to their local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association to identify a support group in their area.