Mihika Poore
Schizophrenia referred
to as the cancer of mental disorders, is a severe mental illness. It is characterized
by incoherent thoughts, bizarre behavior, disorganized speech, delusions, and
hallucinations (“Schizophrenia”).
‘A Beautiful Mind’ is an American biographical film inspired by the life story
of John Nash, a mathematical genius who suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia. This
blog endeavors to assist the concept that the film displays an accurate
depiction of the disorder.
John Nash suffered from hallucinations, the sensory experiences that appear
real to the person experiencing them but take place in the absence of the
external stimulus (p. 526). Although Nash experienced auditory hallucinations
and never saw them, the movie showed visual hallucinations to provide the
audience an insight into his feelings. Auditory hallucinations are associated
with the problems in the speech production areas of the brain. In contrast, visual
hallucinations occur due to the presence of lesions in the central nervous
system pathway between the eye and the visual cortex (Boksa, 2009). Even if
Nash did not have visual hallucinations, the depiction of these in the movie was
very accurate. For instance, Nash pointed out that his hallucinating characters
in no way grew old, and the humans around him never noticed them. These were the
vital signs that confirmed a difference between reality and imagination.
To diagnose Schizophrenia, a man or woman need to exhibit more primary
symptoms than just hallucinations. Nash additionally had delusions, a fixed or firm
belief held by despite seeing clear contradictory evidence (p. 524). He had
Paranoid Schizophrenia in which delusion of persecution is the most common
wherein a person believes that s/he is on a special mission (p. 80). Nash’s
delusions made him think he was working as a secret spy in-charge of soviet code
breaking in the department of defense for which he had to deliver his findings in
envelopes in a mailbox. He hallucinated that he was working under William
Parcher and was getting observed through the Soviet spies. The movie
brilliantly illustrates the combination of both- delusions and hallucinations
that account for the presence of positive symptoms a Schizophrenic would
possibly experience.
Another critical detail to be noticed before
diagnosing a person with schizophrenia is the onset of the disorder. As shown
clearly, Nash’s initial episode of hallucinations began when he was in
Princeton and saw his roommate Charles with his niece, Marcee who was just a
figment of his imagination. Even though the onset of the disorder started late,
it nonetheless felt within the estimated range of age group of men who suffer
from the disorder. Alongside positive symptoms, negative symptoms were also noticeable
in Nash. For instance, he spoke rarely and expressed less while having a conversation
with the people around him. On two occasions, he requested out women for intercourse
in an explicitly straightforward manner, which confirmed a presence of blunted
affect.
Moreover, the movie was efficacious in showing the treatment methods followed
at that time. Nash was given Insulin Shock Therapy at first and medications
later. Nowadays, a combination of different therapies has surfaced like fever
therapy and ICT (Burton, 2015).
Furthermore, the film doesn’t fail to exhibit how a person would
possibly bear relapses of the episodes after the therapy. Nash experienced
hallucinations and delusions when he came back home from the rehabilitation
center. A sudden reduction or discontinuation of medicinal drugs might be a
reason for the same (PT). Nash threw his medicines away which increased his
difficulty in living a normal life.
Even though the movie ends with a fine word as Nash wins a Nobel Prize
while continuing to fight against his insecurities. It ends up showing that
Nash, without taking any psychological help, learns to ignore his
hallucinations by accepting that it’s all in his mind. However, this may have a
wrong impact on other patients who might ignore medication and worsen their
situation. Many movies like the Shutter Island show a correct depiction of the
disorder. Contrariwise, few films show violent conduct of the patients to add
drama in the storylines, which spreads a wrong message to the audience, making them
suppose otherwise of those who have any mental ailment.
In general, disorders
disturb the emotional, behavioral, and psychological aspects of one’s existence
severely. The feeling of guilt and helplessness in Nash is highlighted as his
cognitive abilities were deteriorating over time. Being a real-life story, the movie represents
various facets of the disorder and wonderfully sums up the exact meaning of Schizophrenia
without exaggerating to earn fame.
References:
Boksa, P. (2009, July). On the neurobiology of
hallucinations. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702442/.
Burton, N. (2015, October 7). Schizophrenia and Its
Treatment. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201510/schizophrenia-and-its-treatment.
Butcher, James N, Hooley, Jill M, & Mineka, Susan.
(2017). Abnormal Psychology (17th ed.). Pearson Education, inc.
Schizophrenia - apa.org. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2019,
from https://www.apa.org/topics/schiz/.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). The Icd-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (Vol. 10).
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