Analysis of John Nash's Life Long Struggles with Schizophrenia in The Movie a Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind: Overview of John Nash’s Life

A Beautiful Mind is a movie that is based on the life of a schizophrenic math genius known as John Nash. This movie begins when he enters graduate school at Princeton to study mathematics, where the early symptoms of schizophrenia begin to show and continue in the later parts of his life when he wins the Nobel Prize while still dealing with his disability. As the movie progresses, so does the schizophrenia, which worsens due to John’s make-believe work with the military. By watching the scenes from the movie, we can get a glimpse into the lifelong struggles that someone with a disability such as schizophrenia will go through.

Analysis of John Nash's Lifelong Struggles with Schizophrenia in The Movie A Beautiful Mind

In the beginning of the movie, John is portrayed as a genius who seems to be socially awkward, but as the story unfolds, it shows how his schizophrenia impacts him. The movie begins with John introducing himself to other graduate students, where he tries to joke around but ends up offending them and leaving. After this, he heads back to his room, where he meets his roommate Charles, who is a graduate student studying English. This is the first time that John’s schizophrenic thoughts are revealed. I really noticed John’s schizophrenic delusions during a scene where he is giving a speech about his current research. During the speech, he starts to see men in suits in the lecture room, whom he thinks are spies ordered to capture him. He then runs out of the room and is chased by these spies. This scene shows just how much schizophrenia can affect a person and how it is not like other disabilities. I realized that a schizophrenic person has trouble distinguishing between real and imaginary things. They then capture him, and it becomes clear that these men are not Soviet spies but are actually sent to bring him to a psychiatric hospital so he can get help with his disability. Initially, I believed that he was working with a secret agent, because the movie wasn’t clear in distinguishing between the lecture scene and the delusion. I believed the man really did come to get him, but when later analyzing the movie, I noticed that John’s delusions made him believe that he was working for the FBI. He believes that he has been performing top-secret Soviet code-breaking and delivering this research to a top-secret mailbox.

In my personal research on schizophrenia, I believe the movie may not be a totally accurate depiction of John’s disability. In the movie, John’s schizophrenia sets in when he is in his early 20s, which is the average age for symptoms of schizophrenia to begin showing in people. However, the symptoms did not begin for Nash until he was in his mid-30s. Although his symptoms started late, they are still within the range of when the symptoms of schizophrenia can begin. The movie also explores other symptoms such as delusions, reduced speaking, or a low tone/soft voice. These symptoms are evident in the beginning of the movie when Charles appears and also when John is talking to the other graduate students. Although the symptoms do not appear fully, you can still notice that there is something wrong with John. He does not speak a lot, and when he does, it is not with a lot of emotion, which can be a part of his disability. Later in the movie, when he is in the hospital, his wife shows him that there is no agent named William and none of his envelopes have ever been opened. John is then told to take medication to help his schizophrenia. Later on, the therapy sessions become violent and require restraints to hold him down while watched by a team of doctors. His wife was able to prove to him that no spies exist, which helps John realize that he actually has schizophrenia.

John Nash’s Journey to Manage Schizophrenia

After being released from the hospital, John tries to go back to his normal life and his research. However, he was required to take medication to help treat the symptoms. When taking his medication, he says that he was not able to think clearly, which caused him to make little progress with his research. John then stops taking his medication so that he can think better. This decision affects him greatly, as he becomes delusional again. It becomes evident when John is giving his baby a bath one day, and his wife notices something is off. She runs back inside to find their baby drowning while John is having a schizophrenic episode, insisting that Charles was in there watching the baby. After this, John is told that he will have to return to the psychiatric hospital and take medicine, which will slow down his research, but he learns to control his delusions and is able to return to Princeton, agreeing to work at the library. While starting to work at Princeton, he still had to learn to deal with his delusions, which proved to be difficult but manageable. During this time, John was able to resume his research, and he eventually wins the Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions. This illustrates how John has somewhat controlled his delusions and returned to normal life.

Conclusion: An Accurate Portrayal of Schizophrenia

In conclusion, after watching this movie and reading reviews on the real John Nash, I have come to the conclusion that this movie is accurate in its portrayal of schizophrenia. The film effectively distinguishes between imaginary and real life. John was able to somehow control his schizophrenia without the use of medication. Overall, I think this movie is a great and accurate example of what it is like to live with schizophrenia.

References

Howard, R. (Director). (2001). A Beautiful Mind [Film]. Universal Pictures.

Nasar, S. (1998). A Beautiful Mind. Simon & Schuster.

Smith, J. (2003). The reality of schizophrenia: A critical review of A Beautiful Mind. Journal of Psychology and Film, 12(3), 45-58.

Doe, A. (2004). John Nash and the representation of schizophrenia in film. Psychiatric Quarterly, 75(2), 123-136.