Popular culture repeatedly depicts individuals who have a mental illness as disrupting the social norm. Vividly creating the picture that sane minds differ from insane minds. But, does a sane and an insane mind truly exist? Or, does Hollywood neglect to show the neurodiversity that is inherent in our society because to do so would disrupt the social construction of mental illness? In this essay, I analyze the film, A Beautiful Mind, to understand how the film portrays schizophrenia. Through providing a summary of the film, presenting neurobiological knowledge about schizophrenia and analyzing how the film depicts John Nash’s experience with schizophrenia, I argue that individuals who have a mental illness are not “the others.” How popular culture depicts mental illness affects …show more content…
First, a summary of the film A Beautiful Mind.
A Beautiful Mind (2001) is a film that depicts the life of American mathematician John Nash. Reflecting certain points in his life in chronological order, the film begins in 1947 with Nash attending Princeton University for graduate school. While at Princeton, Nash begins to show early symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, i.e. disorganized thoughts, asociality and hallucinations (e.g. his roommate Charles). However, it is not until after Nash graduates from Princeton and is in his early 30’s teaching at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that his disorder worsens. Having the delusion that he is part of a secret government mission, he becomes paranoid that someone is after him, he begins to see messages in newspapers and starts dropping off letters in secret locations. One day, after presenting as a guest lecture at Harvard University, Nash is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital by his wife Alicia whom he met while teaching at MIT. It is there, at the psychiatric hospital, where Nash is diagnosed with (paranoid) schizophrenia
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.
I found that the accuracy of schizophrenia portrayed in A Beautiful Mind was very consistent. Schizophrenia has many levels of hallucinations and delusions, but The movie portrayed each level in a unique way that described schizophrenia to a tee. There are many other types of schizophrenia, but A Beautiful Mind has an accurate representation of paranoid schizophrenia. The consistency that related the two included the types of hallucinations, delusions, and negative symptoms. Each of these played off of each other granted not every person which schizophrenia has visual, auditory, and tactile. I feel that it is very possible that that all of these symptoms included in the movie were consistent. A Beautiful Mind the movie was written off of a
Psychological disorder is a condition characterized by abnormal feelings, behaviors, and thoughts. For my application paper I chose two movies, one is about John Forbs Nash Junior, and another one is about Nathaniel Antony Ayers Junior. As you might have already guessed the movies are called “A Beautiful Mind”, and “The Soloist”. In “A Beautiful Mind” Russell Crowe portrays one of the most famous mathematicians of the 20th century John Nash, who attended Princeton University on Carnegie scholarship. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that affects emotion, perception, behavior and thought. Unlike identity disorder, schizophrenia does not involve a split personality. It is a disorder through which behaviors, thoughts, and perceptions are
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.
A Beautiful Mind is an inspiring story about triumph over schizophrenia, among the most devastating and disabling of all mental disorders. A Beautiful Mind succeeds in realistically describing the disturbed thinking, emotion, perception, and behavior that characterizes the disorder, and shows the difficult task of management of and/or recovery from the disorder. The movie communicates the vital importance of the factors that contributed to Nash's recovery and achievement of his amazing potential as a gifted intellectual. For instance, Nash was treated with dignity and respect by most of his academic peers. Social support and tolerance enabled him to regain his capacity for productive work that led to his receipt of the Nobel Prize for
A Beautiful Mind, is a movie that was produced in the year 2002 by Universal Pictures. This film is about a man named John Nash who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, paranoid type. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder with key features including delusions, hallucinations, difficulty concentrating, and other negative symptoms (Parekh, 2017). Paranoid schizophrenia specifically, is “characterized mainly by the presence of delusions of persecution or grandeur” (Sadock and Sadock, 2005). The typical age for the onset of schizophrenia is in late adolescence or early adulthood, and is seen in men and women equally (Sadock and Sadock, 2005).
Movies and other forms of popular entertainment sources have often presented varied information and as well as misinformation about schizophrenia, most specifically in regard to its negative portrayals, which can lead to confused public opinion. In summary, majority of movies and popular entrainment media sources portrays people with schizophrenia as violent and with homicidal and suicide thoughts. In addition, most characters in these media sources are portrayed as Caucasians, males, and with supernatural abilities (Gaebel, 2011).
The purpose of the movie “A Beautiful Mind” is to raise awareness among the general population to ease misconceptions about schizophrenia and to show examples for better understanding of this mental illness. By emphasizing several virtues that the main character, his wife, and his friends present throughout the movie, viewers can learn to be more respectful of those who suffer from schizophrenia and
Know I am going to compare what I believe the process of the schizophrenia with John Nash is during the process of this movie. A Beautiful Mind is an inspiring story about triumph over schizophrenia, among the most devastating and disabling of all mental disorders. A Beautiful Mind succeeds in realistically describing the disturbed thinking, emotion, perception, and behavior
A Beautiful Mind (Grazer, Howard, & Howard, 2001) is a film about the life of John Nash Jr. John Nash was a mathematician studying at Princeton University on a Carnegie Scholarship in 1947. The film portrays Nash’s academic journey, career, and personal life. As an adult, John Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is classified as an emotional or behavioral low-incidence disorder disorder (Smith & Tyler, 2010, p. 234). According to Smith and Tyler, about 1% of the general population is diagnosed with schizophrenia by 18 years old (2010). According to Mental Health America, “someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary; may be unresponsive or withdrawn; and may have
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.
Understanding mental illness for the average person can be challenge or even unattainable. Unknown aspects from each individual illness grasps differing urges that are unrelated to the majority of people. The film industry, however, is used as a productive machine of creating empathetic relationships between its audience and the people being portray in the film. A combination of the film industry and the implementation of characters struggling with mental illness delivers a provoking message to an audience of people willing to learn the situations of all people. The movie A Beautiful Mind manages to fulfill the dramatic effects of a film and the realities within an individual suffering through mental illness.
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.
Mental illness affects us more than we know, in fact, about one in four Americans have a mental health disorder in any given year, and about half of all Americans will develop a mental illness sometime in their lives. Mental health disorders are usually caused by the interaction of chemicals in the Central Nervous System, which means that they can’t be prevented, but they are treatable. The effects of a mental illness can change a person’s life forever, which is why it is important to seek treatment for a mental illness right away. Schizoid Personality Disorder is part of the Cluster A or eccentric personality disorders, along with schizotypal and paranoid personality disorders.