A Beautiful Mind

I have chosen to watch A Beautiful Mind, a film about the life of John Nash, a professor at Princeton University, played by Russell Crow, who suffers from schizophrenia. I believe the film portrays schizophrenia and its symptoms in a realistic manner. John Nash exhibits many symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, violence, social isolation, and paranoia. Like many schizophrenic patients, John’s symptoms went unnoticed for years. Its onset appeared to be when he was in graduate school and possibly earlier, which is common.

From the beginning scene, it was apparent that something was wrong with John Nash. At beginning of the film, John Nash was exhibiting odd purposeless motor activity, such as his hands and fingers moving in a twitching manner. As time progresses, his odd mannerisms become more prevalent and did not subside. John’s speech was coherent and not disorganized unlike the speech patterns of many schizophrenics.

John Nash exhibited difficulty when it came to social situations, especially with the opposite sex. This was apparent in the bar scene where he did not know how to interact with the female at the bar and ultimately said something offensive and inappropriate. In my experience, many schizophrenics have problems dealing with social situations and usually need to attend groups to increase their social skills.

John Nash also had hallucinations that he believes were real at the beginning of the film. This is also a common symptom experienced by schizophrenic patients. He began with one hallucination of a friend named Charles then added a new hallucination, called Parcher, who worked for the government. He eventually added one more in the form of a small female child. To the schizophrenic patient, the hallucinations are a reality to them and they need to be able to differentiate between what it real and what is not.

He began to have delusions, such as being a spy for the government. He became obsessed with the work he believed he was doing. The delusions continued to become more prevalent as his life continued. He became paranoid and believed that he was being followed by Russian agents. His hallucinations and delusions began to interfere in his personal as well as his professional life. His paranoia increased and to the point that it scared his wife. John’s hallucinations became so powerful that people began to notice a change in him. His paranoia eventually led him to become violent as he believed that he was being attacked and wound up in a psychiatric hospital.

His wife confronted him with the reality that everything he believed to