Dementia And Family Ties: Little Sophie Flynn

Dementia is a very distressing disease for both you and your family. The heroine of our story today lives in Ireland, her name is Sophie Flynn and she is only 5 years old. A touching film with her participation spread across all continents and touched the hearts of millions of people around the world.

The girl spent moments of genuine emotional communication with her 82-year-old great-grandmother suffering from dementia.

Dementia – that was the diagnosis of Brenda Brock, Sophie’s great-grandmother, but nevertheless these two – separated by three generations – managed for a moment to establish a thread of emotional communication.

Dementia and family ties

The presence of the girl turned out to be one of the best stimuli for her great-grandmother to come into contact with reality. What she has achieved is truly unique. The touched parents decided to record the meeting of the granddaughter with the great-grandmother and show it to the world.

Brenda Brock has been living in a nursing home for some time, where she receives care that meets all her needs. Remember that dementia is a disease in which the patient completely loses connection with the surrounding reality.

Thanks to professional medical care, the old woman receives the stimulation necessary to maintain at least some of the cognitive functions of the brain. There is no doubt, however, that health professionals are unable to provide her with the emotions she may experience with her own family.

What is dementia?

Although Alzheimer’s dementia causes patients to forget faces, names and recognize people they know, it does not affect the emotional state of the patient and he is able to express his feelings.

There is an inexplicable connection between the brain’s emotional structures: the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the limbic system …

It has not yet been discovered how progressive neurodegenerative processes leave many of the underlying emotional systems intact.

Sophie’s meeting with her great-grandmother

Sophie hadn’t seen her great-grandmother in many years, didn’t even remember her face clearly. No wonder, after all, she is only 5 years old and her everyday world consists of parents, grandparents and dogs. Her great-grandmother Brenda lives in a nursing home where young children are not used to coming.

One day the girl’s parents decided that it was high time for Sophie to visit her great-grandmother, even if it was only for a moment – after all, the same blood flows in them and they belong to the same family.

In such situations, parents are often afraid, and the same was the case with Sophie’s parents, they were afraid that the little grandmother would be scared when she saw a very sick great-grandmother. A bedridden old woman, immobilized in bed, not recognizing anyone is not the best company for children.

However, the fears of the girl’s parents and even psychologists who warned about the possible reaction of the patient were unfounded. Dementia is characterized by anxiety when a patient’s daily routine is disrupted and it is often difficult to predict how they will react.

How was the great-grandmother’s meeting with her granddaughter?

The girl’s parents were very surprised by her reaction – she approached her sick great-grandmother’s bed with great naturalness and without the slightest fear, sat down on the bed and began to sing: You are my sun, my only sunshine .

Sophie sang in a sweet childish voice while she stroked the old woman with delightful tenderness. And after the song ended, she hugged her and kissed her. This moment was magical and unique for the girl’s mother.

As she said in an interview with The Mirror newspaper : It was amazing, we couldn’t believe it. They both looked very happy and displayed so much harmony and charm as if they had known each other forever. It was as if there was no one else in the room but them .

The entire incident was filmed by Sophie’s grandfather, Sandy Miller, who then uploaded the video to YouTube. The success was huge – thousands of people saw the video in a short time. See him and you!

Dementia and music

• Research has shown that both music and singing have therapeutic effects on dementia patients.

• Music always generates positive stimuli, which in turn help maintain peace and well-being of patients.
• The well-being of dementia patients alleviates the state of arousal and improves the cognitive functions of the brain.
• What happened to Sophie and her great-grandmothers goes beyond the boundaries of music and singing. In this case, the girl turned out to be a significant emotional stimulus for the sick old woman. As already mentioned, dementia does not affect the emotional level of the patient.
• The old woman probably did not even recognize her granddaughter, but her sweetness, warmth, tenderness and kisses caused enormous emotions in Brenda’s brain.
• This magical moment of establishing an emotional bond between the sick old woman and the girl will probably remain in their hearts forever. It was a moment full of positive emotions and pleasant unity that our brain is able to create with people close to us.

• In addition, in people with dementia, music improves memory, strengthens feelings and improves mood.

Summary

We wanted to share with you this story which, due to its simplicity, charm and goodness of human nature, deserves attention. Through her, we would also like to pay tribute to all people affected by this terrible disease, which is dementia, and to their families, who care for them persistently.