Mental health assessment

Running head : ANALYSIS OF JOHN NASH 'S CHARACTER IN "A BEAUTIFUL MIND

Analysis of John Nash 's Character in "A Beautiful Mind : Is it Real

By

Institution

Professor

Introduction

Though packaged as a love story based on the life of John Nash , a genius in mathematics and a Nobel Laureate in economics , Ron Howard 's movie "A Beautiful Mind " is essentially a treatise on schizophrenia presented through celluloid . John Nash , a West Virginian , earned his Ph .D . in mathematics , and then became a victim of schizophrenia at the height of

br his career , which robbed his genius and made him fight against it for decades before he could mitigate it to a considerable amount , mostly due to the wonderful support system led by his wife Alicia . The movie takes some liberty from the real-life , and this essay thus explores the credibility of John Nash 's character from the clinical perspective besides its efficacy as a general guide to all , before reaching its own conclusion

Symptoms Depicted in the Movie

John Nash (played by Russell Crowe ) starts believing that he has been approached by a shadowy government agency to assist with code breaking With time he becomes more afraid and looses his ability to function normally at his work . He starts hallucinating his college roommate while other aspects of his life appear to be built on "paranoia grandiosity and ideas of reference (Rosenstock , 2003

Behavioral Traits

The movie chooses to interpret Nash 's egotist nature as self-awareness - "Alicia hears not rudeness but honesty in his suggestion that they bypass platonic activities on the way to lovemaking , and she recognizes sincerity in his proposal to marry her if she can provide proof that their love will last (Butler , 2002

The movie shows how schizophrenia took charge of Nash before anyone could realize , which is a known trait of it - where its onset is not necessarily rapid or apparent . Nash 's delusional thinking makes him refusing hospitalization . On the other hand , the case of self-mutilation is also a common syndrome of it

Through such series of events , the movie depicts the transitions and shifts in Nash 's behavioral states - where "thought gets fueled by emotion " at the outset and then Nash gradually metamorphoses into a state where "emotion gets directed by thought , between which Nash experiences both remission and relapse of his paranoid schizophrenia

Assessing his character , Dr . Rajiv Tandon , a psychiatrist (Gavin , 2002 observes "Nash in the movie shows all three kinds of symptoms " - i .e positive (unusual thoughts , hallucinations , negative (inability to initiate plans ) and cognitive (attention deficit , memory problem

Credibility

The movie follows Nash 's life from when he was a brilliant mathematician (1950 ) and then his 25 years of sufferings from hallucinations and delusions from 1959 , before he could partially recover to normalcy According to Dr . Tandon , Nash 's experiences as depicted in the movie "the timing of his illness 's onset in his early adulthood , the withdrawal , reduced thinking capacity and failure to get relief from many...