A Beautiful Mind, my movie essay for psychopathology

“Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to discover a beautiful heart.” John Nash, a pure genius of his time. John Nash, a misunderstood man with a brilliant mind that “falls prey” to the clutches of delusions and hallucinations characterised by the illness, schizophrenia. This movie is captivating as the viewer learns of this illness in a devastatingly heart warming way. The viewers are shown the long and hard journey of John Nash suffering with schizophrenia. The opening quote to this essay shows the epitome of what got John Nash through the illness, love. “A Beautiful Mind” is based on a true story on the life of John Nash. John Nash was a very peculiar man with a brilliant mind. He was a genius of his time. We see John Nash as he progresses from being a student to becoming a lecturer working at Princeton University. We follow the life of John Nash as the disease progresses. It is interesting as we see when there is change or stress in Nash’s life; this is when the symptoms of the disorder are most prominent. These events that cause stress or anxiety in his life are when he is in search of “the original idea” and when he meets a girl that he has thoughts of marrying. This daunting time of life changing decisions is where we see the symptoms worsening. Even towards the end of the movie in Nash’s old age, where he returns to his university after many years, we see Nash’s anxiety and the delusions and hallucinations cause him to have an extreme episode. His wife reminds him then, and the viewers of the movie are brought into awareness that stressful times trigger the delusions. Alicia, Nash’s wife: “You know stress triggers the delusions.” “Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder (or a group of disorders) marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions and behaviours.” (Medical dictionary). It is characteristic of hallucinations and delusions that affect the daily living and occupation of those that suffer with the illness. The subtype of schizophrenia that John Nash is presenting with is Paranoid Schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenia is a pre-occupation with one or more delusions or frequent auditory hallucinations. In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to the peculiar character of John Nash. A strange and somewhat socially inept man that is a genius. He is dubbed “the mysterious West Virginia genius”. John Nash attends Princeton University, and he is in search of his “original idea.” His goal is to “Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.” The viewers of the movie are unaware of his illness at this time. We only get to see the socially withdrawn man with very peculiar ways. He does not fit in easily. “I don’t like people much, and they don’t like me.” We are introduced to Nash’s roommate at the beginning of the movie, Charles Herman. It is very interesting as to how the movie only allows the viewer to see that Charles Herman, Charles’ niece Marcie as well as William Parcher, who works as a spy for the department of defence, are all hallucinations that John Nash is experiencing after we have been introduced to them. Before we know that Charles is a delusion, there is dramatic irony in what Charles says to Nash: “Nothing's ever for sure, John. That's the only sure thing I do know.” Only once Dr Rosen intervenes and takes Nash to a psychiatric hospital do we find out that Nash’s peculiar behaviours are due to the schizophrenia and some of the people that he has met, are in fact, delusions and hallucinations. As we find out that he has the illness, one can start putting the pieces together slowly. The fact that only Nash speaks to Charles and that he does not feature in any conversations with the other university members such as Martin. John Nash does not realise that he has the illness even though he is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He still tries to convince his wife that they are in danger. He says to her when she comes to visit: “We have to talk quietly. They might be listening.” His wife, Alicia cannot believe that he is so pre-occupied or believes with all that he is, that he is working for the US government. She tells him that none of it is real. She proves this to him by showing him all the unopened letters that he drops off at the US Defence headquarters. She informs him of his illness. “It’s in your mind. You’re sick.” He walks away from her in disbelief. The next scene, we see John Nash in his room in the hospital on the floor. It is a terrifying and graphic scene as he is tearing away at his skin on his forearm searching for the barcode that the US defence force inserted into his arm. He looks extremely distresses as he cannot find it. “I can’t find it, it’s gone.” This is the first time that Nash becomes aware that the things that he thought was his reality, are in fact, not real. Dr Rosen says it so perfectly when he speaks of Nash’s condition to Alicia while Nash is receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy. It epitomises what schizophrenics must go through. “Imagine if you suddenly learned that the people, the places, the moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been. What kind of hell would that be?” This quote allows the viewers of this movie to sympathise with Nash. Everything that he was and believed, all that he saw and was working for, all turned out to not be real. Nash is put on medication to help alleviate the symptoms of schizophrenia being the hallucinations and delusions. We see how the medication has a saddening affect on Nash. The side effects include Nash not being able to work properly, a decreased sex drive and his inability to take care of his baby boy properly. This sends Nash into a spiral has he decided to stop taking his medication. The effect of non compliance to medication is seen in a devastating manner. Nash begins to have the hallucination and delusions in full force. He begins to see codes that he needs to break and the delusions come back, Charles Herman, Marcie and William Parcher. His illness becomes out of control and his wife is oblivious to this as Nash is so careful not to tell her what is going on for “her own protection.” We come to the climax of the movie when Nash puts his baby’s life in danger as well as acts out and pushes his wife to the floor unintentionally. He is left to bath his son while Alicia goes outside to hang up the washing, still unaware that Nash is no longer taking his medication. She discovers the cottage outside has all the evidence that Nash is once again, having delusions and hallucinations, possibly worse than the first time as we see the walls covered with magazine articles and codes. She runs inside the house to find the baby almost being covered completely with water, and Nash says “Charles was watching him. He’s ok.” This scene is devastatingly terrifying as we see the very harmful and dangerous affects of schizophrenia. How one can become completely pre-occupied with these delusions. The horrifying scene continues as Alicia tries to phone the psychiatrist and Nash’s delusion of William Parcher pulls out a gun threatening to shoot Alicia. Nash tries to “protect” her, resulting in him pushing her over while she is holding the baby. She leaves the house. And Nash is confronted with all three of his delusions in the room. It is obvious that a few years have passed yet Marcie remains the same age. He comes to this realisation and it is the first time, without medication that Nash gains insight into his disorder. It is the first time he realises that he is seeing delusions. He runs out to Alicia- “She never gets old! Marcie can't be real, she never gets old!” Nash comes to realise his illness. This is very difficult for schizophrenic patients as many lack great insight into their condition. This is also one of the reasons one might not be compliant with medication. They believe that they are better and therefore stop the medication or like Nash experienced, the side effects begin to affect their daily living. Nash comes to a conclusion about his schizophrenia. “It’s a problem with no solution. It’s what I do.” He does not want to take medication, he is now aware of his condition and he wants to take control of it. Dr Rosen tries to reason with him by saying he can’t control this with his mind. Dr. Rosen: “You can't reason your way out of this!” Nash: “Why not? Why can't I?” Dr. Rosen: “Because your mind is where the problem is in the first place!” This comment from Dr Rosen rings true for all schizophrenic cases. It is a disorder of the mind that cannot be changed, but only supported or the symptoms of the condition can be treated as long as the patient continues to take the medication. It is a psychiatric disorder with major social and occupational dysfunction. This dysfunction needs to be managed. We see in Nash’s life how the social and occupational dysfunction is extremely evident. He is socially inept and he cannot do his work correctly because he is pre-occupied with the work of the US defence force. His interpersonal relationships are also affected as his relationship with his wife becomes strained as well as the fact that he has kept no friends or fails to make friends. We then see a beautiful scene between Nash and Alicia that epitomises her love for him, and we see how Nash is going to try control his illness. It all comes down to deciding what is real and what is not. Alicia: “You want to know what's real. This... “[putting her hand on his heart and his hand on her face] “... this is real.” Nash returns to his university, Princeton. He approaches his former rival, but someone who considered Nash as one of his friends- Martin. Nash approaches him saying- “Alicia and I think that fitting in, being part of a community might do me some good.” The stress and anxiety of returning to the place where his delusions first become is extremely daunting for him and the stress triggers his delusions once again stronger than ever. He has an embarrassing episode where Martin intervenes and tells him it’s ok. Nash is consoled when Martin says he will ask if Nash can return to lecturing. Nash returns the classroom. We see a very interesting thing happened at this point. We learn here how Nash controls his delusions and hallucinations. They are always present in his life, he can see and hear them all the time but he chooses to ignore them. This is evidence of incredible insight into his condition, and how much power the mind has to take hold of these delusions and let them go. Nash develops a sense of humour about his condition with his students that he affectionately calls- “the eager young minds of tomorrow.” In a humorous dialogue, Nash turns to one of his students when Thomas King approaches Nash. Nash: “Can you see him?” Student: Yeah. Nash: “Okay. I am always suspicious of new people. Now that I know you're real, who are you, and what can I do for you?” In two instances, Nash expresses how the delusions and hallucinations are still omnipresent in his life even many years after he had been diagnosed. The one being when he is talking to an old colleague and friend, Hansen. Nash: “They are my past. Everyone is haunted by their past. I've gotten used to ignoring them and I think, as a result, they've kind of given up on me. I think that's what it's like with all our dreams and our nightmares, Martin, we've got to keep feeding them for them to stay alive.” Towards the end of the movie, Nash has a conversation with Tomas King where he yet again expresses how he controls the delusions and hallucinations. “I still see things that are not here. I just choose not to acknowledge them. Like a diet of the mind, I just choose not to indulge certain appetites; like my appetite for patterns; perhaps my appetite to imagine and to dream.” Thomas King approaches Nash informing him that he has been chosen for the Nobel Prize. This is an extremely prestigious award and Nash’s taken aback by this incredible honour. He enters the hall at the university with Thomas King and they have tea. Nash is apprehensive as he had not been back in that room for many years. They are engaged in conversation when professors in the hall start walking up to Nash and giving him their pens. This is a sign of utmost respect for another professor. He is touched, and expresses in the only way he knows how. “That was certainly most unexpected.” We fast forward to the awards evening of the Nobel Prize. Nash has been awarded with the Nobel. He is in his old age and dedicates his speech to his wife. “What truly is logic? Who decides reason? My quest has taken me to the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. I have made the most important discovery of my career - the most important discovery of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found. I am only here tonight because of you. You are the only reason I am. You are all my reasons. Thank you.” This moment epitomises for me the importance of having a support system for a schizophrenic patient. It is not their fault that they have this disorder, and through the love and commitment from Nash’s wife, the professionalism from R Rosen and the support of Nash’s friends perhaps could have been important factors in part of his functioning as a normal person in society. A Beautiful Mind, inspired by a true story gives one insight into the hardships of being a schizophrenic and being the family of a schizophrenic. We are introduced to the symptoms of schizophrenia, possible treatment methodologies, and the complications of non compliance to medication and the devastating effects of living with this condition. It is a beautifully heart warming movie that allows one to empathise with those living with schizophrenia.