Depiction of John Nash’s Schizophrenia in The Film a Beautiful Mind

The Life of John Nash

The film A Beautiful Mind focuses on a brilliant mathematician named John Nash, who reveals himself as a person with an abnormal character. He is highly antisocial and not easily distracted, very focused, and does not like people due to his poor social skills. John works with tension and dedication to develop a concept in game theory while he is a student at Princeton University. After much sacrifice and dedication that Nash puts in day by day, he adequately fulfills his work. However, it affects his mental health since he is constantly working under stress and gets agitated when things don’t result in the way he has expected. While he is working at a private research university and is a professor at Princeton, he is diagnosed with schizophrenia, although his psychotic disorder has managed to go unnoticed for years because ‘eccentricity’ was common in his field.

Nash suffers from constant hallucinations, which in fact, include having had an imaginary roommate throughout his college years. His hallucinations regarding working at The Pentagon have become an obsession, and he imagines that he works for a government agent, discovering hidden messages in magazines and newspapers. Being a professor at the university, he began a relationship with one of his students, Alicia Larder, a physics student, with whom he married and had a son. As his mental state became worse, imagining Russian spies were following him to capture him because of his work, he is sent to a psychiatric hospital to get treatment, where he realizes that his imaginary friend and his work as a secret spy are not real. However, after his hospitalization, taking medication causes him to have marital problems and being unable to care for his child leaves him to not take his medications. Therefore, his hallucinations begin to appear again, and he thinks he is working for the government. But with the help of his wife, he manages to seek help and try to improve, which drives him to return to Princeton to find a job. As he now distinguishes between reality and his hallucinations, he has decided to live his days by ignoring what he thinks he sees.

Depiction of John Nash’s Schizophrenia in the Film A Beautiful Mind

In the beginning of the film, John’s behaviors among his colleagues are noticeably different, as he isolates himself from them and doesn’t engage in conversation. As he enters Princeton University, he feels as if he is in competition with other mathematicians, so he pushes himself to finish his work for many hours in his room. Due to his economic status, he is twice as motivated as the others because it is mentioned in the film that he was a poor college student. I think the amount of stress he endured caused him to produce abnormalities in the brain that interfered with his thinking, perceptual processes, and led to confusing thoughts. In other words, years of stress can possibly lead to schizophrenia. As it is stated, “A study shows that severe forms of abnormal behavior, such as schizophrenia and depression, occur proportionately more often among poor and socially disadvantaged groups.”

However, the film didn’t mention if John’s parents suffered from schizophrenia, therefore I believe this disorder was developed based on the reasons that John was stressed and always pressured himself in his work. In fact, it is stated in an article called “Variable causes of social dysfunction in schizophrenia: The interplay of neurocognitive, personal, and intersubjective factors” by Jurij Bon that “The course of schizophrenia is far from following the same pattern in different individuals. The first psychotic episode can appear almost unexpectedly or, in contrast, the symptoms can develop slowly but progressively over a period of years.” Therefore, I believe his disorder was developed when he arrived at Princeton University because his first psychotic episode happened unexpectedly; even John himself knew it when he remembers he did not have a roommate when his imaginary friend comes into the dorm room and says he is his roommate. Furthermore, the film poignantly illustrates how societal expectations and personal pressures can exacerbate underlying mental health conditions, pushing individuals like Nash to their breaking point.

References

1. Bon, J. (Year). Variable causes of social dysfunction in schizophrenia: The interplay of neurocognitive, personal, and intersubjective factors. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages.
2. Smith, A. (Year). The impact of economic status on mental health: A review. Journal of Economic Psychology, volume(issue), pages.
3. Johnson, L. (Year). Stress and its impact on mental health disorders. Journal of Health Psychology, volume(issue), pages.
4. Thompson, G. (Year). Eccentricity and mental illness in academia: A historical perspective. History of Science Review, volume(issue), pages.