In Ron Howard's work, A Beautiful Mind, depicts the real life account of Professor John Nash and his struggle with paranoid Schizophrenia. The topic of mental illness has become popularized as of late, particularly in popular media (film, television). This focus on mental disorders has greatly improved awareness of mental disorders, but this media has become a double edged sword. The same process that educates people (ie these films and shows) can also disseminate largely false or misleading information. In the film, both sides of this information distribution phenomena are expressed. To evaluate the effectiveness of the movie to accurately describe the occurrence of paranoid Schizophrenia one must look at the accuracy of the onset, …show more content…
Seeing as Nash's experiences in the film follow the Type II diagnosis (DSM-IV-TR) one could reasonably expect that his symptoms would follow in the same diagnostic pattern. But, instead of coming on slowly and consistently, these auditory and visual hallucinations come on acutely (actually almost immediately). This extremely acute onset of serious symptoms is out of line with what should be occurring. What should be shown is slowly deteriorating symptoms that are in line with increasingly complex delusions. The onset of delusions after the hallucinations is also outside the norm of the differential of Schizophrenia, although not impossible. The second depicted area that needs to be inspected is the range of symptoms expressed in the film. There are three areas of symptoms that need to be checked for accuracy. First, the most easily identifiable by the viewing audience, are the visual hallucinations that he experiences. There are several inconsistencies between those symptoms that he experiences and those that Nash suffered. The first inconsistency that occurs is that Nash never actually experienced visual hallucinations. Actually, it is extremely rare for Schizophrenics to suffer from both visual and auditory hallucinations. The second inconsistency in the presentation of his (supposed) visual hallucinations is the vividness of the hallucinations. The vast majority of visual symptoms are described as "out of
Throughout the duration of the film, John Nash appears to have a series of positive symptoms. According to King, positive symptoms “reflect something added above and beyond normal behavior”. This generalization is clearly evident in A Beautiful Mind. The most visible symptom that can be seen in John Nash’s behavior is his psychomotor movements. King states that “a person with schizophrenia may show unusual mannerisms, body movements, and facial expressions”. In the film, John Nash demonstrates these movements through
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.
2.The most highly visible aspects of Nash’s condition are of course his elaborate delusions and hallucinations (creating friends and relationships that don’t in fact exist) and his paranoia (for example, his belief that the hospital is run by the Soviets). DSM-V lists negative symptoms--alogia, anhedonia and avolition--that we don’t see in the film. When Nash is medicated and flailing in his life--unable to focus on his work and unable to respond to his crying child--he asks his wife, “What do people do?” It’s then that we see the most mood disorder-related aspects: avolition, defined as a lack of will and self-direction, and anhedonia, an inability to experience pleasure. Alogia may be indicated when Alicia says to Nash on their picnic date by the lake, “You don’t talk much, do you?” and Nash responds,
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.
I think for the most part the movie did a good job portraying schizophrenia as it is in reality. Nash experienced delusions of grandeur that blurred the lines between reality and imagination, illuminating a powerful example of just how debilitating schizophrenia can be. Auditory hallucination is the most common symptom found in schizophrenia. The one’s experienced by Nash in the film were in-line with how the DSM specifies them to be. The film puts a large emphasis on the paranoia experienced by Nash. In the DSM-IV, paranoia was a specifier for a sub-category of schizophrenia, called paranoid schizophrenia. The new version of the DSM does not include paranoia as a specifier for schizophrenia, rather it is viewed as a comorbid mental disorder. One aspect I thought was overdone concerns the visual hallucinations. It was necessary for the entertainment value of the film, but is largely inaccurate in its attempt to represent the visual hallucinations experienced by individuals who have schizophrenia. Visual hallucinations are not common in schizophrenia, especially not to the degree the movie depicts, in which whole scenarios and events are vividly made up. I think it is a common misconception that visual hallucinations are a hallmark of schizophrenia. I think that the producers of this movie included
John Nash portray a man that develops Schizophrenia throughout the movie. Schizophrenia according to, Licht, Hull, and Ballantyne 2017 is a “psychological disorder that includes delusion, hallucination, disorganized speech, and abnormal speech”. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders[DSM-5] Fifth Edition,2014, John Nash
In mid 1959, Nash was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Because of his disease, Nash had trouble maintaining relationships in his life. His relationship with his wife and children became strained, and he struggled to relate to others (“John
John Nash’s character in the movie suffered from positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms of psychosis, but some played larger roles in his life and were a prominent part of the movie. Perhaps the most debilitating symptom was his hallucinations. One usually thinks hallucinations are just hearing things or occasionally seeing something that is not there, but in the case of Nash, he experienced auditory and visionary hallucinations quite frequently. The director of the film did not directly reveal his hallucinations to be real until halfway through the movie. The main character meets his “roommate” within the first few scenes, which seems somewhat strange to an audience member, but the actor goes along with it. Charles Herman, the “roommate”, begins to play a large role in his life and is almost always with John. Herman later introduces his niece to Nash, and the pair quickly form a bond. Eventually, the hallucinations are so delusional that he begins to believe a man from the US
Unfortunately his medication disrupts his relationship with his wife almost as much as his delusions did in the first place. For example, he couldn't respond to his wife in bed, he couldn't show affection to their child, and he couldn't do simple tasks around the house. He stops taking his medication and falls back into his paranoid delusions. Nash has a breakthrough and realizes that the people he is seeing are hallucinations when he realizes that none of them age.
The symptoms John noted match up to the coordinating diagnoses criteria, DSM table, for schizophrenia. Criteria A states: the diagnosed must have at least two or more of the following five symptoms and have them significantly present during at least a one month period: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized/catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms. Out of the five symptoms, John has shown signs of: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized behavior, and negative symptoms. Hallucinations are experienced by John, when he hears voices in his head calling him a “sinner” or how he "will soon be punished by god.” Delusions have
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
This was a perfect example of the psychological disorder schizophrenia. Although, each person with the disorder differs in type of symptoms and intensity of symptoms, John Nash is a perfect example of a severe case, as well as the capability of the human mind to overcome this disorder. We briefly discussed psychological disorders during our Neuroscience and Brain unit in class. This movie provided a good display of schizophrenia and taught me new information that we weren't able to cover. Each psychological disorder is different and each brain differentiates with the capability of with dealing with them. In the end, John Nash was able to overcome his symptoms and settle down. He continued to pursue mathematics and had a family. His wife stuck with him during the lowest points and raised two children
In the movie it seemed like he did not have a lack of social involvement with the outside world but once the viewer realized that the roommate and Parcher were not real then it all came together. All of Nash’s symptoms started when he began looking for his original idea to be published. The DSM5 says the reaction to stress causes individuals with schizophrenia to have increases in negative mood and behaviors. I believe the stress of trying to find something new pushed him over the edge and forced him to create a world that helped him cope with the pressure but in reality it created more work for him to do. Nash’s over all functions in everyday life were impaired due to his disorder. After going to the psychiatric hospital and beginning his medication he began to suffer from intellectual paralysis cause by the medication. His delusion might have gone away but his work and overall well-being suffered which caused him to stop taking the medication and have another psychic
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
John Nash suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. He is a gifted mathematician who began graduate school at Princeton University in 1947. We will begin Mr. Nash’s history from this point in time, for it is here that his symptoms first began to emerge. During this time in his life he is in what is known as the prodromal phase of schizophrenia, which is a period before active