How quick can mental models adapt?

A fascinating story (from the BBC) about a Polish man who has just come out of a coma that he fell into in 1988:

"When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops, meat was rationed and huge petrol queues were everywhere,"

It's a fascinating real-case to contrast and illuminate the powerful film "Goodbye Lenin", one of the great transition narratives.