A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 movie starring Russell Crowe as John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who suffered from schizophrenia, having been diagnosed with the illness in his early thirties. The movie shows the struggle that Nash went through as he dealt with the mental illness and is very informative on it. Schizophrenia can cause one to become obsessed with a particular idea which can lead to obsessive compulsive behavior. This can almost be seen as a mental illness within another one, a condition that can overwhelm the individual suffering from it. In Nash’s case, he was obsessed with getting a breakthrough in Mathematics and was not content with being a mere student going through the motions in college. This obsession causes him to be completely out of touch with reality. It appears that the character has both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BPD). The scariest thing about this particular mental illness is that an individual lives in a world of their own that nobody else understands. Unfortunately, many brilliant minds like Nash’s can be dimmed as a result and the contribution these people could have made in the society is reduced. It essentially makes them abnormal among the ‘normal’ people and they are not treated the same by a majority of the people.
Description of Disorder in the Film
The film portrays both schizophrenia and BPD. In his article, Grohol (2015) provides insight on the difference between various mental conditions that are relatively similar and thus confusing. The complementary mental disorders include schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder and bipolar disorder. The article provides an educative distinction of the respective conditions by highlighting their similarities and differences. Unlike bipolar disorder, which entails the alternating mood episodes namely mania and depression, schizophrenia consists of more psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. In addition, the author depicts that schizophrenic condition is relatively unpopular as compared to bipolar (Grohol 2015). Schizophrenic mental condition conditions exhibit behavioral characteristics attributed by delusional motives which might prove to be potential threats on their lives. As a result, schizophrenia is a more crucial disorder that requires effective treatment after diagnosis. Furthermore, the mental condition is considerably more difficult to stabilize due to the behavioral characteristics of victims, which discourage them to consume medication. Schizophrenic victims are often reluctant to partake in any treatment or medication due to their psychotic abnormalities. Similarly, multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity, exhibits significant contrast with the relative mental disorders (Grohol 2015). Just as schizophrenic disorder, the conditions involve psychotic abnormalities whereby diagnosed individuals are highly delusional and often experience hallucinations. The mental condition is structured by two or more personalities in which the diagnosed individual adapt within themselves. According to psychological studies, dissociative disorder occurs when individuals make up a complementary personality that aids them in enduring various life circumstances. However, sometimes the condition is heightened and the complementary personality influences behavior leading to neglect of laws and principles. Therefore, unlike bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and dissociative disorder are critical mental conditions that result in more lethal consequences.
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In one scene Nash gets frustrated when he cannot find the solution to the equations he is doing as to him failing is not an option and as a result he suffers a meltdown. In another one, he sees calculations forming from a newspaper he was reading, something that clearly has no rational explanation. These flashes of genius and madness often appear together in the movie and they show how thin a line there is between these two. A simple calculation that would otherwise be considered pretty normal is complicated and looks irrational when birds are involved in the calculation. The line between genius and madness is constantly crossed and the viewer gets to understand just how complicated schizophrenia is and how much it affects those suffering from it.
The first scene of the movie is a lecture at Princeton where Nash sits isolated while listening to the lecturer praise the great works that mathematicians do. However, he seems lost in his own thoughts while the lecture is going on. He sits alone at the back of the class and appears tense and fidgety. He looks up when the lecturer asks, “Now who among you will be the next Morse, the next Einstein, who among you will be the vanguard of democracy and freedom and discovery?”. It appears to be the only thing that catches his attention. One gets the impression that he does see himself as the next big thing in Mathematics.
In another scene, he watches students play from his window and starts writing down mathematical calculations on it as if getting the ideas from watching them play. His roommate tries to make small talk with him but his focus is fully on his calculations. The impression one gets here is that mathematics is the sole focus for Nash and anything else is secondary to it. From this early on in the movie, one gets the general impression that Nash does not simply blend with the crowd. He stands out and that is exactly how he want things to be as he is not content with being just one among many.
Nash has a very self-serving attitude toward the intellect of others. He considers himself above others in his field and hates being compared to his contemporaries. During a conversation with his friend, he says he cannot waste time with classes and books memorizing the weak assumptions of lesser mortals. This reveals his arrogance and the belief he has in his abilities. He believes that the intellect of others is inferior to his own and therefore places himself above everyone else. It appears as though he is in a world of his own by thinking this way and goes to show how out of touch with everyone he really is.
The film reveals various insights about the etiology, psychological effects, and treatment methods of bipolar disorder. Although the term bipolar refers to ‘two poles’ which were used to exhibit the two alternating moods, the terms ‘mania’ and ‘melancholia’ are considered to have derived from the works of Aretaeus of Cappadocia, who enlisted medical symptoms associated with the medical condition since before the 1 st century ( Cherney & Krans 2016) . Furthermore, the Greek and Romans introduced the traditional treatment of lithium salts, which is popularly practiced today, to neutralize manic energy. Apparently, Romans and Greeks bathed in water mixed with lithium salts before the condition was medically acknowledged. Later on, in the 17 th century, an author named Robert Burton discovered another form of treatment through his book, which focused on methods of treating melancholy ( Cherney & Krans 2016) . The book asserted that engaging in music and dancing relieves the depressive episodes associated with bipolar disorder. As a result, entertainment was considered as an alternative treatment for depressive moods. Seemingly, a medical writer and a physician known as Theophilus Bonet associated the melancholy mood with the mania episode after performing 3000 autopsies on victims diagnosed with the mental disorder. This provided significant insight on other physicians and psychiatrists. Bonet’s doctrine motivated Jean-Pierre Falret, a French psychiatrist, to publish an article documenting the first diagnosis of the mental condition. Relatively, Farlet’s article inspired another German psychiatrist known as Emil Kraepelin, who derived the classification of other mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
In order to determine the various causes of bipolar disorder amongst diagnosed individuals, Jones and Craddock (2009) reveal significant attributors of the mental condition and other biological characteristics associated with the mental state. According to Jones and Craddock (2009), there are various environmental and biological factors that cause bipolar disorder. Empirically, the most common cause is determined to be genetic influences, which attribute approximately 60% of diagnosed cases (Jones & Craddock 2009). The mental condition entails a hereditary component that constitute diagnosed genes from generations-to-generations Scientists and physicians assert that genetically induced bipolar is relatively challenging to stabilize as compared to other attributors of the condition. The article suggests that bipolar disorder can relatively be attributed by environmental factors that ignite mood shifts. Experiencing social misfortunes and hardships are likely to change the general mood of individuals. According to the journal, around 30% of victims diagnosed with the condition exhibit prior experiences of trauma and abuse from the environment. Another cause suggested by Jones and Craddock (2009), is psychological abnormalities involving the functionality of brain cells. The journal asserts that as individuals continually go through depressing experiences, the tendency of experiencing alternating mood changes increases. Therefore, recurring experiences of trauma might lead to an elapse to bipolar disorder. On the other hand, certain bipolar conditions are determined to have been caused by biological features within the brain of victims. Seemingly, bipolar victims exhibit certain physical changes in their brains that are not evident on the brains of regular individuals (Dunn & Boyd, 2015). Although this indifference has not been scientifically used to determine a biological cause, the article suggests it might point out to a particular cause with continued study.
Jane Collingwood’s continued studies have resulted in discovery of contemporary methods of treatment. After lithium was discovered as an effective treatment method, further studies introduced contemporary methods of therapy (Collingwood 2015). Various prevalent medications that were used to treat other mental disorders were determined to neutralize the constant mood change amongst diagnosed victims. For instance, lamictal and abilify, which were medications intended for treatment of schizophrenia, were later discovered to be useful for bipolar treatment as well. Other anticonvulsants, such as sodium valproate, were introduced to stabilize the mental condition after contemporary antipsychotic studies. Apart from the contemporary anticonvulsants, scientists and researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health worked on establishing other treatments through anti-seasickness medication known as scopolamine (Collingwood 2015). However, due to its effect on the memory and attention span of diagnosed victims, the contemporary method of treatment was not widely adapted. The echo-planar magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was introduced as an alternative method of treatment after scientists at McLean Hospital discovered that brain scans improved the mental condition of depressed patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Collingwood 2015). Empirically, the radiative and electric fields exposure to individuals with bipolar disorder stabilized the mental condition. This eventually resulted in implementation of another treatment method through electrical scanning known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. The insights in these articles are related to the scenes depicted in the film
Clinical Diagnosis and Personal Impression
The main character in the film is suffering from bipolar disorder. Nash mentions that his second-grade teacher that he had been given two helpings of brain but only one helping of heart. He mentions this after his roommate suggests that he is not very good with people. He admits that he does not like people much and they don’t like him much either. The meaning of the comments made by his teacher is that for him studies are of much more importance than matters to do with the heart, which loosely translates to relationships with people. For Nash, his priorities are the complete opposite of those of a lot of people and to many, it appears he has them all wrong. He is exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder.
I consider myself an intellectual person because I like to look at issues from a critical point of view and do thorough research before forming opinions regarding a particular subject. Looking at the bigger picture has always enabled me to better understand issues and be able to accept different points of view, including those I do not agree with. I have noticed that developing such an attitude has led to fewer conflicts with people I interact with and has also broadened my knowledge on different issues greatly.
My emphasis on intellect has elicited mixed reactions from different people. While some appreciate it and commend me for being open-minded, a lot of them do not understand such a point of view at all. Many people see the world in black and white and are not open to the possibility that there could be an in-between. When discussing an issue with people holding such an outlook on life, there are often arguments as I try to get them to see the bigger picture and not just what they want to see. So many people are not capable of just agreeing to disagree with people holding differing opinions from them.
I liked how mental illness is portrayed in the movie as I feel it gives a true picture of what schizophrenics have to go through as well as those taking care of them. The film debunks a lot of myths that a lot of people have regarding mental illness and shows it for the illness that it is. A Beautiful Mind provides a very accurate portrayal of schizophrenia by not romanticizing the illness. Instead, it is shown in a very raw light that does not try to sugarcoat what sufferers of the illness go through. The viewer gets to see the world through the eyes of Nash and experience his psychosis which is a scary place for one to be. In general, besides telling the story of John Nash, the movie goes a step further and creates awareness on schizophrenia which explains the great impact it had on audiences everywhere.
References
Cherney, K., & Krans, B. (2016). The History OF Bipolar Disorder. New York: Heathline Media. Retrieved on July 31, 2016 from www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder/history-bipolar#1
Collingwood, J. (2015). Emerging Bipolar Therapies. Psych Central . Retrieved on July 31, 2016, from www.psychcentral.com/lib/emerging-bipolar-therapies/
Dunn, K., & Boyd, R. (2015). Understanding Bipolar Disorder . London: Mind 2015.
Grohol, J. (2015). The Differences between Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder. Psych Central . Retrieved on July 31, 2016, from www.psychcentral.com/lib/the-differences-between-bipolar-disorder-schizophrenia-and-multiple-personality-disorder/
Jones, I., & Craddock, N. (2009). Genetics of bipolar disorder. Journal of Medical Genetics , 36:8
