The movie, “A Beautiful Mind” plays out the story of the extremely brilliant mathematician John Nash who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Ron Howard directed this film and is based on the true life story of the genius mathematician Nash which is portrayed by Russell Crowe. At the beginning of the movie John starts his career at Princeton University, as a mathematics student where he was well known for his intelligence. Nash is an arrogant, socially awkward student, who spent most of his time cooped up in his room or library trying to discover an impossible equation in mathematics that would make him one of the greats (Albert Einstein, Plato, Galleo). Half way through the movie, we come to find out a lot if the places and situations that occur are only an illusion within Nash’s “beautiful mind”. At this point we figure out that Nash is suffering from severe mental illness, which is paranoid schizophrenia. Schizophrenia has been defined as a split mind, not only referring to multiple personality but also a split from reality that shows itself as unorganized things, irrational emotions and actions. Nash had been experiencing extreme delusions and hallucinations which were then diagnosed as symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Nash displayed both signs of negative and positive symptoms, as in disorganization, delusions, random laughter, and extreme quietness. One of the first imaginary characters he develops is his roommate Charles Herman, an English Literature student.
Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy has been known to be the most efficient type of therapy when treating this mental problem. Cognitive therapy is a specific type of therapy that teaches people more, new adaptive ways to think and act. The treatment was involved in the film, Nash was put into a psychiatric hospital, and he received anti psychotic medications to help control his disease. He also was administered insulin shock therapy. Nash enters a world of imagination when he meets Parcher, who asks to help the pentagon with their code deciphering. Which Nash takes to the extreme, collecting tons of newspaper clippings and magazine articles. Parcher is the second person that he comes up within his mind.
Charles, Nash’s roommate introduces his niece Marcee to Nash. The third person he has created within his mind. Nash is teaching and proposes to one of his students that he admires greatly, Alicia. He continues to teach but the paranoia is increasing when he sees men outside of class stalking him, again, another figment of his imagination. His wife Alicia becomes pregnant, and Parcher stalks Nash asking him to help break codes or Russians will come after him and his family. He is forced to see the psychiatrist Rosen, where he is made to live in the psychiatric hospital to help him deal with his illness. It then became difficult for Nash to deal with his relationships. Nash cut his wrists to...
