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A Beautiful Mind Schizophrenia Symptoms

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A Beautiful Mind By John Nash Essay

Symptoms of schizophrenia Explained by – A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind illustrates the life of John Nash who is currently living with schizophrenia. Being of intelligence does not stop the chances that one might develop the mental illness, such as schizophrenia, as the case of the character of John Nash, the Princeton graduate student, the lover of the subject mathematics and Nobel Prize winner portrayed in the movie. In movie John Nash clearly has schizophrenia and suffers from severe mental illness,hence the title A Beautiful Mind as he experiences

Mental Illness As Portrayed In The Movie A Beautiful Mind

Associated Signs and Symptoms of Schizophrenia

The movie A Beautiful Mind is an adaptation of the book by the same name and is a biopic based on the life of Nobel Prize winning economist, John Forbes Nash, Jr. The movie portrays the symptoms and treatment for paranoid schizophrenia from which John Nash suffers. He has episodes of auditory and visual hallucinations and has frequent interactions with imaginary people. This paper attempts to present a reflective case study of the patient as presented in the movie. The patient when treated for hallucinations has certain negative reactions to the medicine, to overcome which, he avoids them, relapsing into his earlier condition. The patient mentions taking newer medications later on which also help him decide between the reality and delusion. At the end of the movie, the patient is seen to have overcome this disorder by learning to ignore his hallucinations. This paper discusses alternate treatment as well as recommendations for future mental health nursing practices.

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Treatment Modalities Specific to Schizophrenia

What A Beautiful Mind Got Wrong About Schizophrenia

While there were plenty of accurately portrayed characteristics of schizophrenia, there were also some that were exaggerated or inaccurate.

There Is No Quick Fix for Schizophrenia

In the movie, it appeared that John only spent a short time in the hospital, receiving treatment and taking the appropriate medication before jumping back into his research however, this is highly inaccurate. Schizophrenia is a life-long disease that requires consistent therapy and treatment to help the individual adjust and cope with this mental disorder. John Nash himself actually struggled for decades with his mental illness and was unable to work for a long period of time.

Delusions

While delusions are common side effects of schizophrenia, not all schizophrenics see delusions. Regarding John Nash specifically, he didnt see delusions like Charles or the soviet spies as they were depicted in the movie, but rather he heard them. Oftentimes, auditory hallucinations hearing things that arent real can cause delusions. While it can occur, the soviet spies and Nashs friend Charles can be considered exaggerated symptoms of schizophrenia. These characters help the audience visualize what John was thinking.

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Lesson : The World Began To See John Nashs Brilliance When He Was In Graduate School Making Mathematical Breakthroughs

Like many geniuses, John Nash had some eccentric and reclusive tendencies. But though his parents worried about him socially, he had a gift for thinking about math problems in new and unorthodox ways. Surprisingly, he didnt show glowing grades in high school math because he would neglect to show his work and just write an answer that he had solved in his head. But in college, his professors were astounded by his methods for solving difficult math problems with ease, and he was accepted to graduate school at Princeton University.

Graduate students formed cliques under different mentoring professors, but Nash preferred to stay a loner, making him not particularly well-liked. But he found his place working under John Neumann, who fathered game theory.

Game theory is a way to explain human decision making among competing players through mathematical models. Nash expanded Neumanns theory in his thesis to include games involving more than two players and allowing for cooperation. This crucial step in the development of the theory allowed it to relevant in real-world situations, particularly in economics. Most importantly, his additions to the theory allowed the possibility of mathematically determining human behavior with the possibility of mutual gain. This became known as the Nash equilibrium, which would win him the Nobel Prize, but not until half a century later.

The Negative Symptoms Of Schizophrenia Include:

A Beautiful Mind Quotes About Schizophrenia
  • Avolition: A total lack of motivation, to the point of not being able to pursue any sort of goal, including seemingly simple things like making or taking a phone call

  • Anhedonia: An inability to experience pleasure from social situations or physical activities like eating, touching, or sex

  • Social withdrawal: Lack of interest in being with other people

  • Difficulty paying attention**:** Staring off aimlessly while someone is speaking, for example

  • Apathy: This might show up as lack of personal hygiene, or a lack of concern for yourself or others.

  • Affective flattening: An absence of affect or emotional expression, such as unresponsive facial expressions or vocal tones and very little body language or movement

  • Alogia: Difficulty speaking, which might mean a significant reduction in the amount of words spoken or in the ability to speak with ease or use detail when communicating

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Introduction: Goodbye Russell Crowe Hello Elyn Saks

A Beautiful Mind, the Academy Award winning film, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning biography, about the Nobel Prize winning John Nash, was ground-breaking in its attempt to position the audience in Nashâs mind and to depict the delusions that he experienced with sympathy and clarity. Yet despite the fact that the film is based on Nashâs life, it is a Hollywood, fictionalized version of his experiences with schizophrenia. Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter, chose to personify Nashâs auditory hallucinations, rendering them more legible to the filmâs viewers: for example, a little girlâs voice becomes a little girl who viewers can both see and hear in the film . While not necessarily accurate, Goldsmanâs keen decision to portray voices as characters takes full advantage of the medium of film and helps the audience realize how compelling and persuasive Nashâs delusional thinking was to him. In 2001, when the film was released, it was rare to see such careful attention paid to depicting the inner world of a person diagnosed with schizophrenia. It still is rare.

A Beautiful Mind Essay

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? A Beautiful Mind For John Nash, living with the diagnosis of schizophrenia meant this tormenting battle of delusion versus reality would be fought for a lifetime. By definition, schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder that affects a persons thinking, language, emotions, social behavior, and ability to perceive

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Schizophrenia: Symptoms And Treatment In A Beautiful Mind

The film A Beautiful Mind chronicles the adult life of John Nash Jr., a Nobel Prize recipient widely regarded as a brilliant mathematician who greatly influenced modern economic theory. The film focuses on Nashs decades long struggle with paranoid schizophrenia after he receives a diagnosis in 1958. Although it is well known that Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia in real life, I will use this paper to discuss specific symptoms portrayed in the film, and consider how his treatment and environment contributed to his relative recovery later in life.

Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Treatment in a Beautiful Mind

As Nash graduates from Princeton, he publishes his groundbreaking paper on Game Theory and lands a prestigious position at Rand Corporation and MIT. He meets and marries his wife Alicia, and for several years he continues to be functioning as an employee and a husband. As time passes, the film portrays Nash as more disheveled, unshaven, disorganized, and consumed with his top secret DOD code-breaking work. We see papers crumpled and overflowing out of his briefcase, he is constantly cutting out newspaper clippings, and he commonly misses appointments or dates because time gets away from him. However, like his colleagues and wife, we as the viewer believe he is deteriorating because of the classified work is stressful.

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Impact Of Psychosocial Issues Like Discrimination

Schizophrenia in A Beautiful Mind

John Nash had strange mannerisms and his odd behavior put some of his students and friends off . His constant writing of formulae on window panes and wearing his knitted hat at all times seemed out of place and caused his friends to ridicule him. The incident of his being dared to speak to an unknown girl and her slapping him for his effort caused him to become the brunt of his friends jokes. There was an incident with his teacher who was worried about Nashs performance in Princeton but that was later transformed to appreciation because of the brilliance of his project.

People suffering from schizophrenia are often labeled, stereotyped and discriminated against. The common perception is that the patient is responsible for having the behavioral changed that are a part of the symptoms of the disorder. Often negative stereotypes are created and the people suffering from schizophrenia are believed to have undesirable or uncontrollable characteristics. In the film, it has been demonstrated by the absent-minded behavior of John Nash when he allows his son to nearly drown in the bath-tub while he goes off to complete his secret work. His constant delusion of being engaged in highly classified and confidential state matters caused his wife and friends distress and at certain periods to mistrust his words, when in reality he was making up stories due to his hallucinations and delusions.

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Movie Analysis Of A Beautiful Mind And How The Movie Portrays Schizophrenia

Movie Analysis of A Beautiful Mind and how the Movie Portrays Schizophrenia

SECTION 1

Schizophrenia

According to Horgan , schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that hampers an individuals ability to think clearly, make decisions, manage emotions, and relate to others. Many research studies have established links between schizophrenia and alterations in the brain structure and chemistry. It is a long term and complex medical illness that affects individuals differently. The disorders course is unique for every individual.

Causes of Schizophrenia

As presented by Wyatt , schizophrenia is linked to problems with the structure and chemistry of the brain. It is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors just like many other illnesses. However, scientists have not yet established all the factors that cause the illness and many studies are underway to come up with the exact causes of the disorder.

Signs and Symptoms of Schizophrenia

There are five main symptoms that are characteristic for schizophrenia. The symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized behavior, disorganized speech and behavior, and negative symptoms . Nonetheless, the symptoms differ dramatically from one person to another, both in severity and pattern. Moreover, the symptoms will often change over time.

  • Negative Symptoms or Absence of Normal Behaviors
  • Lack of interest in the world
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    A Beatiful Mind Reaction Paper

    Based on what I have watched from the movie of A Beautiful Mind, which is a biography based on the true life story of a math prodigy, John Forbes Nash Jr., the movie is a brilliant and touching portrayal of the destruction of the mind by Schizophrenia, paranoia, and the effect of ostracism. These psychological concepts and conditions are clearly shown by the main character, played by Russell Crowe, at the beginning of the film, the character John Nash arrives as a new student at Princeton University, he is introduced to his imaginary roommate Charles, who would later become his best friend, as well as a group of male students who hang out together. I was amused by his interactions with women, his bluntness in asking for sexual favors and his responses to their reactions was intriguing and disorganized. The part of the film shows Nash does not know that his roommate and best friend, his friend’s young niece Marcee and a mysterious Department of Defense agent William Parcher are all part of hallucinations or psychotic ailment known as schizophrenia. Most provocative for me, was John sitting in his garage, enclosed by walls covered with all the maps and magazine articles that he used for decoding I appreciated the chaos that John experienced in his day to day life this scene brought home the reality of this devastating disorder. The movie inspired several professionals consider his fellow

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    Diagnostic Tests For Schizophrenia

    Current Prevalence

    The first step in the detection and prognosis of the clinical conditions experienced in schizophrenic and bipolar patients is through reliable diagnostic techniques such as CT scan of the brain, magnetic resonance and other imaging techniques which may help eliminate possible confusion in the diagnosis of this disease. As there are few or no medical tests available that will warn a person of an onset or prevention of this disorder, the psychiatrist must carry out a thorough evaluation of the patients family background and genetic history by interviewing the patient and the care givers. The doctor must also take into account the course the illness has taken and how long the symptoms have been prevalent, patients reaction to medication and therapy.

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    How Common Is Childhood Schizophrenia

    A BEAUTIFUL MIND AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

    is a rare and poorly understood illness, affecting only about 1 in 40,000 children. Its considered COS when diagnosed in kids under 13 years old. Though the symptoms are very similar on paper to those of adult schizophrenia, they can be even more difficult to diagnose in children than adults, because symptoms can be easily mistaken for normal kid-like behavior.

    For instance, early warning signs of COS include shyness, introversion, loneliness, depression, and manic-like behavior, all of which could be chalked up to kids being kids. And children have wild imaginations , which can be used to explain away the possibility of hallucinations or delusions. Whats more, symptoms overlap with those found in other more common childhood disorders such as autism and ADHD, adding to the challenge of accurate diagnosis.

    Treatment for COS looks very similar to that for adultsantipsychotic medication combined with psychotherapy, with the addition of academic and social support. Unfortunately, the condition is not likely to go away even with treatment, and instead continues into adulthood. Early diagnosis is key to helping children and their families better prepare to cope with the chronic illness.

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    Treatment For Autism And Schizophrenia

    Since autism is a neurodevelopmental difference and not a mental health disorder, it is not something that is cured or fixed. However, autistic people might require support, like psychotherapy to manage stress, speech or occupational therapy to help with communication and sensory issues, and services like vocational or financial assistance.

    People with schizophrenia might require antipsychotic medication to manage hallucinations or delusions. They may also benefit from psychotherapy to help manage stress or improve insight into their symptoms. Family therapy can help caregivers understand their loved ones symptoms and how to best support them.

    Finally, group therapy can offer a supportive environment where the individual can connect with others with similar symptoms and experiences.

    Positive Symptoms Of Schizophrenia Include:

  • Thought insertion: The belief that your thoughts are not your own, rather they were placed there by an outside source.

  • Thought broadcasting: The belief that your thoughts are being broadcast so that someone or something can observe or collect them , or that people around you can read your mind.

  • Thought Disorder: This is a disordered way of thinking where its difficult for the affected person to keep their thoughts in a linear, organized way, says Dr. Margolis. As a result, words and phrases are misused, underused, or overused, and its difficult for another person to understand. For example, a person with thought disorder might respond to a question like Where are you from? in a tangential, irrelevant way by explaining they dont know their ancestral history. Or they might derail off topic with a flight of ideas that are only vaguely associated with the original concept.

  • Disorganized Behavior and Speech: This is characterized by trouble with goal-directed behavior, which can not only get in the way of starting and completing a task like making dinner or getting dressed for the day, but it can also impact your ability to work or interact with others. Speech can also be affected: Words may become so jumbled and confused that its often described as a word salad. Other ways disorganization can manifest:

  • A decline in overall daily functioning

  • Unpredictable or inappropriate emotional responses

  • Lack of impulse control

  • Bizarre behaviors that lack purpose

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    A Beautiful Mind Summary

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    The protagonist, John Nash, of the movie A beautiful mind suffers from the mental illness called Schizophrenia. It is a mental disorder or illness characterized by the breakdown of thought processes and by a defect of typical emotional responses. The common symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking and it is occupied by significant social or occupational dysfunction.In the case of John Nash, his mind created fiction harassers by the name Charles Herman, who h thinks is his roommate during his stay at Princeton, William Parched, a mysterious supervisor of the United States Department of Defense who assigns John the task to find hidden codes and makes hi believe that a conspiracy is undergoing and that the country is at threat and Charles young niece Marcel whom he adores from the very moment he meets her when he goes back t Princeton and meets Charles again and Charles introduces her to John.

    He, despite his medical condition and different attitude toward mathematics and life, is respected and accepted and considered and important person and human being by his students, fellow professors, his friends, his family and finally by the society.

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