My Sister's Keeper

I watched a movie this evening with my husband titled My Sister's Keeper. I had downloaded the movie previously, thinking it was the newly-released movie of the same name based on the book by Jodi Picoult. The movie we watched was not the same movie, but a different one made in 2002 about two sisters, one of which who is diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder at the age of sixteen. While it was not what I originally wanted to watch, we watched it for the reasons that I have two aunts who have similar disorders and my husband has both friends and relatives with similar disorders. The woman who plays Chrissy, the sister with the disorder, did an excellent job portraying the illness. Much of her behavior reminds me of memories I have of my aunts, and one scene in particular brought me to tears. In the scene, Chrissy is in the depression stage and her apartment is in complete disorder and filth when her sister Judy comes to visit. Such a scene played out in my own life in which my family went to visit my mother's eldest sister in her own apartment, and the place was so terrible that roaches infested the building and my aunt was afraid to touch the white towels my mother had gifted her with. There was little my parents could do for her at the time because the social worker assigned to my aunt basically stone-walled them, and the hopelessness we all felt for her is hard to express in words. Thankfully, my aunt is in a much better living situation now and receiving the care she needs.I recommend this movie to anyone with friends or relatives with mental disorders in order to better understand the illness.