In the film, “A Beautiful Mind”, the main character is John Nash. Nash represents the life of a person struggling with schizophrenia. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), in order for an individual to meet the criteria for schizophrenia, one must include two or more of the following symptoms for at least 1 month and at least one symptom must be one of the first three: Delusions, Hallucinations, Disorganized Speech, Disorganized (or Catatonic Behavior), and Negative symptoms. Functioning in work, relationships, or self-care has declined since onset. In addition, continuous signs of the disturbance must persist for at least 6 months, or if during a prodromal or residual phase, negative symptoms or two or more symptoms in less severe form. John Nash perfectly portrays an example of individual who experiences positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Everything seemed to be pretty normal when he arrived at Princeton University – He immediately became friends with his roommate, Charles Hernan. Halfway through the movie, however, I became aware that most events that occurred were only hallucinations and delusions. Someone who experiences hallucinations may hear voices in their head that seem real and that may lead the individual to act out in response to these voices. Examples of Nash’s hallucinations include the friendship he had with Charles, Marcee (the niece of Charles), and William Parcher (Department of
John was suffering from Schizophrenia he would have hallucinations that would alter his normal thoughts and behavior. He suffered from both positive and negative symptoms, and also cognitive symptoms that effected his ways of living a normal life. The positive symptoms were the delusions and hallucinations in which John would have while suffering from his disorder. The negative symptoms were the lack of desire to form social relations and
1. The psychological disorder portrayed in character of John Nash in the film A Beautiful Mind is schizophrenia. The most prominent symptoms were hallucinations, grandiose delusions, paranoia, a persecutory complex. Beginning with DSM-V, two or more symptoms from the list of schizophrenic criteria must be present for at least six months and active for at least one month. John Nash certainly qualifies for another DSM-V criterion of diagnosis, social/occupational dysfunction, due to his apparent abandonment of relevant mathematical work in favor of conspiracy analysis/obsession. Nash is given the official diagnosis of schizophrenia during his admission to the mental hospital.
A Beautiful Mind illustrates many of the topics relating to psychological disorders. The main character of the film, John Nash, is a brilliant mathematician who suffers from symptoms of Schizophrenia. His symptoms include paranoid delusions, grandiosity, and disturbed perceptions. The disease disrupts his social relationships, his studies, and his work. The more stressful his life becomes the more his mind is not able to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
In the movie A Beautiful Mind, which primarily takes place in the 1950s, John Nash exhibits signs of schizophrenia. He shows both positive and negative signs of the disorder. However, the movie does not portray all symptoms of schizophrenia accurately. Throughout Nash’s life-long battle with his illness, his family is dramatically affected. Overall, the movie implements a positive stigma of the disorder. While John Nash’s journey with his illness is not an entirely accurate depiction, the movie gives a positive light and awareness to schizophrenia.
In addition to hallucinations and delusions, other symptoms were portrayed in the film. Nash was constantly suspicious of the people around him. This was a result of his belief that the Russians were after him. For example, when Nash was taken to the psychiatric hospital, he thought that Dr. Rosen was Russian and trying to stop him from doing his work. As a result, Nash resorted to violence in order to protect himself.
“A Beautiful Mind,” which is based on the novel by Sylvia Nasar, is the story about the mathematic genius called John Nash. He enters Princeton University in the 1940s to start his studies in the fields of calculus and mathematical theory. He is very much an outsider, who does not much hang out with his colleague mates but only with his kind and outgoing roommate called Charles and his little nephew. Later on, John turns out to be a teacher at M.I.T and
According to the DMV-IV John Nash was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia because of certain criteria he showed, hallucinations and delusions. It is listed in the DMV-IV as 295.30 Paranoid Type-Schizophrenia (DSM-IV, 1994). Dr. Nash had a break from reality when he
“To some extent insanity is a form of conformity; people are always selling the idea that people who have mental illness are suffering. But it’s really not so simple…I think mental illness or madness can be an escape also” (qtd. in “John Forbes Nash”). To many “normal” people, the terms “insanity” or “madness” portray a negative connotation-- the unfortunate ones “suffer” from mental illness. However, brilliant mathematician and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash, who has paranoid schizophrenia, cherishes his unique condition as a means of retreat from the brutalities of reality (“John Forbes Nash”). Since ancient times, people have observed the link between madness and creative genius. Indeed, research has proven that the two conditions of
After watching the documentary on Schizophrenia, I believe if I had the illness it would be like living in two different worlds. You can go from having delusions and hallucinations that would take over someone’s body, then once you take the medications, the symptoms lessen and you can have a normal controllable life. Living with someone who has schizophrenia would require a lot of support and love for the patient. It would be important to maintain a sense of humor, educate yourself about the illness and to remain hopeful when times get rough. I believe Schizophrenia is one of the worst mental illnesses, due to being unable to control how one acts or thinks. In the documentary, University of Chicago offered Nash a prestigious position and Nash
“A Beautiful mind” is a story based on the life of John Forbes Nash, who is a famous mathematician. Unfortunately, he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia that majorly affects his personal and social life. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder in which the patient’s ability to function is impaired by severely distorted beliefs, perceptions, and thought processes (Hockenbury, 2010).
John Nash is well above average in terms of intellectual functioning. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia. He first started exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia when he attended Princeton University. The symptoms that were observed were hallucinations and delusions. In Nash’s mind, he had a college roommate name Charles Herman. In addition, he stated that he met Herman’s niece named Marcee and a secret agent named William Parcher, whom he worked for at a secret location by breaking Russian codes. He developed persecutory delusions while working for William Parcher because he believe that Russians are trying to kill him for
The evidence of the cognitive symptoms, as with any disease, is more difficult to see externally in a person suffering from Schizophrenia. John Nash was not a very social person and I believe that this is attributed to the inability of expressing thoughts and feelings caused by the disease. His office in the movie looks somewhat like what I imagined the inside of his mind to look like; cluttered. Pictures on top of articles, on top of more pictures. There were papers hanging from the ceiling and string connecting pictures while forming patterns. One pattern I saw repeated a few times throughout the film was a spider- web image. This to me just shows how everything in his mind seemed as though it was connected in some way.
In the film " A Beautiful Mind" John Nash experiences a few different positive symptoms. The first of these positive symptoms are seen through the hallucinations John has of having a room -mate while at Princeton. This room- mate continues to stay "in contact" with John through out his adult life and later this room- mate's niece enters Johns mind as another coinciding hallucination. Nash's other hallucination is Ed Harris, who plays a government agent that seeks out Nash's intelligence in the field of code- breaking.
In the movie, "A Beautiful Mind", John Nash displays classic positive symptoms of a schizophrenic. This movie does a fair job in portraying the personality and daily suffering of someone who is affected by the disease, although the film does not give a completely historically accurate account. In the film, John Nash would fall into the category of a paranoid schizophrenic, portraying all the symptoms that are typical for this illness. Nash suffers delusions of persecution, believing that there is a government conspiracy against him. He believes that because he is supposedly a secret agent working for the government breaking Soviet codes,
In the movie, "A Beautiful Mind", the main character, John Nash, is a mathematician who suffers from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is actually the most chronic and disabling of the major mental illnesses and it distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, interprets reality and relates to others.