A BEAUTIFUL MIND
How would you describe John Nash during the first third of the film? (guiding questions) What was his personality like? How did he view himself? How did he interact with others?
John Nash is very open to his friend Charles to whom he reveals that he is better off dealing with numbers than dealing with people. His social skills are not very good, especially how he is planning to pick up girls from the local bar. In the first third of the movie, this was a time when he was working towards his doctorate at Princeton University. During this time, Nash had not fallen in love yet. He had also not taken note of the persons that were intellectually able like him. During this period, he had not incurred mental illness, however (Rahman, 2017). He viewed himself as a person who was always right as he had not encountered any person who could challenge his way of thinking. He did not mistreat others, but he ever saw then to be intellectually
In what ways do you see changes in John Nash’s personality throughout the second third of the movie?
At the beginning of the movie, John Nash is portrayed as a focused student who has just survived the wrath of the second world war. In as much as he has problems with other students, he turns out to prove himself as a brilliant student. He is disturbed by the fact that other students may be more intelligent than him. In the second third of the movie, we are shown the peak of the brilliance of John Nash. Nash is admitted to MIT owing to the theory that he developed while at the bar. At the university, Nash starts to make friends with other mathematicians; this was not the case in the first third of the movie as he had challenges dealing with people. He is also employed at Pentagon and find love (Rahman, 2017).
However, Nash’s successes begin to fade as his mental illness diseases start showing up. At the beginning of the movie, Nash appears to be an up-and-coming young man with different theories. However, Schizophrenia and paranoia begin taking control of him and almost loses everything. Because of the disease, Nash starts becoming untidy; he starts showing up at his work station without his usual suit and tie. This confusion is attributed to the intimate secrets that he bears regarding the Soviet Union personnel chasing him. His life becomes a complete mess, and he ends up punching Dr. Rosen, during this moment, hallucinations and paranoia had taken control of him (Rahman, 2017).
Knowing the signs and symptoms of Schizophrenia, describe three events in the film that reflect these signs and symptoms. “Example: Hallucinations- When John speaks to his roommate Charles at the bar.” (please DO NOT use this example)
- Paranoia- There is a scene in the movie where he yells at his wife and orders her to switch off the lights. During this moment, he thinks that the Russians will get hold of him. He commanded his wife to leave with her sister (Rahman, 2017).
- Poor Hygiene- When he started being paranoid, he started showing up in his workplace without his ordinary suits and ties. He was not neat at all.
- Irrational behavior- At the psychiatry, Nash thinks that Charles has betrayed him, and he even gets angry.
- Break from Reality- Nash starts breaking from the reality out of the blues. There is a scene where he is in the psychiatric office, and he starts thinking that Charles has betrayed him.
- Violent Episodes- There is a scene where a workmate comes and threatens him to hurt Charles’ niece. Nash intends to save his wife but ends up maiming her. He thinks that Marcy is not real because she does not get old.
- In hallucinations- There is a scene where his roommate comes in and finds him stressed. The roommate throws away the desk through the window. This came with a show of violence towards his roommate.
John’s wife plays an essential role in his life and with his coping with this disease. What would you do if someone you cared about was diagnosed with a mental illness? How would you try to help them? How would you try to help yourself?
Mental illness is a severe disease of the mind that makes an individual behave unrealistically. If I were to stay in the same place with a person who has a mental illness, the first step I will take to help the person is trying to get the person to seek medical attention from a professional. The other way is to establish a helpful attitude towards them; I would always ensure that I make them feel comfortable around me. If I were the one with the illness, to help myself, I would always try to stay positive so that I don’t end up engaging in weird activities (Wardhani, 2018).
Is there a “cure” for Schizophrenia? What life-changing behaviors have John continued to do to make sure his life is what it was after the film?
Currently, Schizophrenia has no cure. However, patients can recover from this illness. Some patients would spend the rest of their lives coping up with the disease. In as much as a person would recover from the disease, he or she may continue to feel its effects as long as he or she lives. Later in the movies, there were several behaviors that he portrayed that indicated he was recovering from the illness (Iovino et al. 2018). The hallucinations and the real break had significantly reduced, and his hygiene had improved.
REFERENCES
Wardhani, f. L. K. (2018). Asuhan keperawatan jiwa gangguan persepsi sensori: halusinasi pendengaran dengan diagnosa medis schozophrenia paranoid di ruang larasati dan ruang drupadi rsjd dr. Arif zainudin surakarta.
Iovino, M., Messana, T., De Pergola, G., Iovino, E., Dicuonzo, F., Guastamacchia, E., … & Triggiani, V. (2018). The role of neurohypophyseal hormones vasopressin and oxytocin in neuropsychiatric disorders. Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders-Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets-Immune, Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders), 18(4), 341-347.
Rahman, T. M. (2017). THE VIOLATION OF GRICE’S CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS PERFORMED BY JOHN NASH IN ‘A BEAUTIFUL MIND’MOVIE (Doctoral dissertation, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya).