Topic > Analysis of John Nash's long struggle with schizophrenia in the film A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind is a film based on the life of a schizophrenic math genius known as John Nash. This film begins when he enters graduate school at Princeton to study mathematics, where the first symptoms of schizophrenia begin to manifest and continue into the last years of his life when he wins the Nobel Prize while still dealing with his disability. As the film progresses, so does the schizophrenia that is worsening due to John's fake military job. By watching scenes from the film, we can get a glimpse of the difficulties that a person with a disability such as schizophrenia will face throughout their life. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay At the beginning of the film I noticed that John is a genius who appears to be socially awkward but progresses to show the impact of his schizophrenia on him. The film begins with John introducing himself to other graduate students, where he tries to joke with the guys but ends up offending them and ends up leaving. He then returns to his room where he meets his roommate Charles, a graduate student studying English. This is the first time John's schizophrenic thoughts are known. I really noticed John's schizophrenic delusions when he gives a speech about his current research in the film. During the speech he begins to see men in suits in the courtroom, who he thinks are spies who have been ordered to capture him. He then runs out of the room and is chased by these spies. This scene shows how schizophrenia can affect a person and how it is not like other disabilities. I realized that a schizophrenic person has difficulty distinguishing between real and imaginary things. Then they capture him and it becomes clear that these men are not Soviet spies but are actually men sent to pick him up and take him to a mental hospital, so he can get help for his disability. At first, when I first saw it, I thought he was working with a secret agent, because in the film it wasn't clear the difference between the conference and the spin scene. I believed that the man had really come to get him, but later analyzing the film I noticed that John's delusions made him believe he was working for the FBI. He believes he broke top secret Soviet code and delivered this research to a top secret mailbox. In my personal research on schizophrenia, I believe the film may not be an entirely accurate depiction of John's disability. In the film John's schizophrenia begins when he is in his early 20s, which is the average age that symptoms of schizophrenia begin to be seen in people, however, symptoms did not begin for Nash until he was in his early 30s. the film showed. Although his symptoms started late, they are still within the range where schizophrenia symptoms can begin. The film also looks at other symptoms such as delusions, reduced speech, or low tone/weak voice. These symptoms show up at the beginning of the movie when Charles appears and also when John talks to the other graduate students, even though the symptoms don't fully appear you can still notice that there is something wrong with John. He doesn't speak much and when he does it's not with much emotion, which I assume may be due to his disability. Later in the film, when he is in the hospital, his wife shows him that there is no agent named William and that none of his envelopes have ever been opened. John is then told to take medication to ease his schizophrenia. The therapy sessions later become violent and require restraints to keep him still while he comes.