Skip to main content

Why People with Schizophrenia aren’t Mathematical Geniuses


Indian cinema has been hugely criticised for their portrayal of characters with mental disorders; whether it is Manjullika with diassociative identity disorder in the movie Bhool Bhulaiya or Kanagana Ranawat  being described as a  ‘psycho’ in the latest movie Judgemental Hai Kya. The movie Karthik calling Karthik, starring Farhan Akhtar revolves around the life of Karthik, a thirty year old male who has schizophrenia. The aim of this blog post is to analyse the movie’s portrayal of schizophrenia as a disorder. 


One of the distinctive features of schizophrenia is having an altered sense of reality. This would include having the belief that people or things are going to harm or kill one, which ends up causing disruptions in the person’s normal day to day functioning. (Smith, Robinson & Segal)   Karthik leaves himself a message every night to himself and shortly wakes up to his phone ringing with no re-collection of ever leaving the message. He grows to fear his ‘anonymous caller’, continuously talks about how they are ruining his life  to Shonali and his psychiatrist. In the end, he even tries to kill himself because he believes that the anonymous caller will kill him. His fears make him so paranoid that they cause him to lose his job. He is unable to leave his house. He even ends up losing his relationship with Shonali. His fear of his anonymous caller  also  causes him to go to a remote place and refuse to even keep a landline anymore. Thus we see how his fear causes disfunction in his life.



A common feature of schizophrenia is experiencing hallucinations as well (Smith, Robinson & Segal).  Karthik has visual and auditory Hallucinations. He experiences a visual hallucination  hat he has a brother since his childhood who used to torture him and got killed while trying to push him into a well. He stated that he  used to complain about his brother’s bullying to his parents who did nothing to  help him. In reality he did not have a brother and was an only child, therefore when he complained to his parents, they could not see the ‘brother’ he was referring to.


Suicide is a one of the major causes of death among people with schizophrenia (Hor, Taylor). Schizophrenic Males who are unmarried, suffer from social isolation and little external support are at a higher risk of committing suicide (Hor, Taylor).  All these factors are portrayed in the protagonist since he is an unmarried male with schizophrenia and initially does not have social support. People with schizophrenia who have previously attempted suicide are at a greater risk of attempting it again, which is what happens in the movie as well. Thus the relationship between suicide risk and schizophrenia has been well portrayed in the movie. 


According to a poll conducted, two thirds of people believe that split personality is a part of schizophrenia (Kruszelnicki)
This movie also helps strengthen the false belief centred around schizophrenia being a disorder of personalities. This is done through lines like these :

‘Ek brain ke andar kaafi personalities chuppi rehti hai’.(There are many personalities in one brain)  
Karthik is described  seen as having two personalities. The first one being a shy , introverted one and the second one is often described as his ‘alter ego’ as a more confident and aggressive one. Thus fact that his disorder centres around the fact that he has two personalities is very misleading to the audience as it is an incorrect representation of people with schizophrenia.  Even though split personality is a symptom in Dissassociative Identity disorder, Karthik was only diagnosed with schizophrenia. 


Karthik is also  shown as extremely smart in the movie. This is depicted  in the scene where he reads a report in two minutes and can point out twelve errors. The movie shows him as being able to do complex mathematical calculations within seconds. He also seems to possess a very good memory. The myth of people  having a superior intelligence due to schizophrenia is strengthened through this movie. Research shows that there is no relation between having schizophrenia and possessing a superior intelligence. (Olson) 


Even though the movie does strengthen some myths centred around of people with schizophrenia, overall it has done a fairly good job in terms of research on schizophrenia ,showing its symptoms, effects and finally treatment through the character of Karthik. We also see Karthik get better through the support of Shonali and visiting his psychiatrist regularly. This breaks the common misconception that people with schizophrenia can’t be cured. Thus this movie in the context of Indian cinema helps educate the Indian audience about schizophrenia and de -stigmatise it as a mental health condition.







































Bibliography 

Hor, K., & Taylor, M. (2010). Suicide and schizophrenia: a systematic review of rates and risk factors. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)24(4 Suppl), 81–90.



Kruszelnicki, K. (2019). Schizophrenia & Split Personality › News in Science (ABC Science). Retrieved 29 November 2019.



Olson, A. (2014). Beautiful Myths and the Minds of Schizophrenics. Retrieved 29 November 2019.




Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2019). Schizophrenia Symptoms and Coping Tips. Retrieved November 2019.


Lalwani, V. (2010). Karthik Calling Karthik [DVD].

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hardin's trauma

“After”, is a 2019 teen romantic drama directed by jenny gage that revolves around the love of  Tessa, an inexperienced teenage girl, with Hardin, a mysterious ‘bad boy’ . Hardin, the main male character, never had a secure relationship with his father. When Hardin was young, his father used to be an alcoholic with a lot of debt. When he was just eight years old, intruders broke into his home looking for his father for money, however, there was only Hardin and his mother. The intruders forced themselves on Hardin’s mother, and Hardin, who was sleeping then, came downstairs to see what was wrong. To Hardin’s shock, his mother was being raped by three men, one by one. Hardin’s mother told him to leave, however, one man forced him to watch everything.  I would assume that Hardin has PTSD as a result of this incident, and in this paper I will try to prove it. Symptoms of PTSD and scenes that prove Hardin had it: The person subsequently re-experiences the event through both intrusive memori

Disorderly Delvian: A Deep Dive into "Anna Delvey" through the Lens of NPD

       A markedly thick accent, a mop of blonde hair, a magical array of unimaginably expensive clothing, and an air of calculated mystery mesh uncomfortably together to invent Anna Delvey, the centre of Netflix’s appropriately named documentary/drama series, “Inventing Anna”. This series tells or rather retells the fascinating story of how one woman deceived the creme de la creme of New York society as well as some prestigious financial institutions under the guise that she was a wealthy heiress from Germany. The series follows a journalist, Vivian Kent, as she tries to uncover the carefully constructed web of lies Anna spun around high society after her arrest, heavily interspersed by flashbacks, present-day court hearings, and interviews with the enigma herself (Shondaland, 2022). Anna as a character, infused with a troubling reality and a dramatised narrative, presents an interesting scope to study the symptomatology of Narcissistic Personality Disorder as presented in her behaviou

The Psychological Depth of Good Will Hunting

Shorya Sehgal Good Will Hunting revolves around the interaction of two rebellious characters, Sean Maguire and Will Hunting, who, to a certain extent, help each other to conform slightly. Will is a brilliant but troubled, young adult. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), inferiority complex, defence mechanisms and attachment disorder. A mathematical genius, Will had a complete disrespect for authority and for his own considerable talents. As the story progressed, I was able to see Will’s personal growth as he developed an extremely strong relationship with his therapist, Sean. Sean had fought his own battles in life which had made him tough. This significantly helped Will and Sean to connect to each other on a deep, emotional level. What struck me the most in the movie is how coherently Will's journey is tied together. His transition from an inexpressive, troubled young guy to a mature and responsible one is shown very exquisitely. By the end, he was able to be