A Beautiful Mind and Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder of the brain. In general, schizophrenia affects a person’s thinking, mood, and behavior. Psychosis is a major feature of schizophrenia. The major characteristics of psychosis are:

• Abnormal interpretation of reality.

• Decreased ability to relate to self and others.

• Decreased ability to function.

• Disorganized thoughts and behavior. (Ramont, 2010)

Milieu therapy is helpful. However, during acute episodes, people usually require hospitalization. Anti-psychotic medications are the main source of treatment. The goal is to relieve symptoms, provide safety, and improve the patients function. Medication compliance is a big problem.

The movie, A Beautiful Mind, is a great example of this disorder. You can see all of these characteristics portrayed throughout the course of the movie. The main character, John Nash, has delusions. He is hospitalized. He is medicated. He uses Milieu therapy. He does not comply with his medication regimen. It’s all there.

John Nash arrives at Princeton University as a new graduate student. Though he was promised a single room, his roommate Charles, a literature student, greets him as he moves in and soon becomes his best friend. Nash admits to Charles that he is better with numbers than people, which comes as no surprise after watching his largely unsuccessful attempts at conversation with the women at the local bar.

Nash is seeking a truly original idea for his thesis paper. Ultimately, he is inspired to write his thesis concerning the concept of governing dynamics, a theory in mathematical economics. After the conclusion of Nash’s studies as a student at Princeton, he accepts a prestigious appointment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Five years later, while teaching a class on Calculus at MIT, he places a particularly interesting problem on the chalkboard that he dares his students to solve. When his student Alicia Larde comes to his office to discuss...