Analysis of the Film a Beautiful Mind - Essay Example

Paranoid schizophrenia is frequently written off as obsession with one or numerous delusions, which are apparent towards the climax of the movie where the audience distinguishes Nash’s paranoid delusions from reality. The first signs of delusions appear when he is supposed to decipher a code for the US army and from this point; his delusions seem to snowball as he eventually meets William Parcher a worker at the ministry of defence. In the movies, Parcher is seen proposing that Nash use his code-breaking skills in an attempt to find hidden messages in magazines. Gradually Nash appears nervous and suspicious; for instance, on his first date with Alicia, he thinks that two men are observing him and even in his wedding, Nash sees Parcher watching him. Nash is preoccupied with delusions to a point that they take charge of his life and even interfere with his personal relations like when he arrives late for a dinner with Alicia on her birthday, he says that he was “caught up at work…again” (Xu, 2012). Therefore, these preoccupations in delusions led to social dysfunction, which are both criteria for assessing schizophrenia in DSM IV-TR.

Nash’s appearance increasingly becomes dishevelled an indication that preoccupation with the paranoid delusions left him with little time for taking care of himself and in accordance to DSM IV-TR his self-care is remarkably below the achieved level prior to the condition, which is common in individuals with schizophrenia. After his marriage, Nash’s behaviour becomes more erratic and becomes more suspicious and paranoid like one instance where he came home afraid following his talk with Parcher and locks himself in his room while Alicia screams, “talk to me”. Nash in A Beautiful Mind suffered from hallucinations and became preoccupied with delusions that influenced his ability to create and maintain meaningful, relations and even take care of himself (Xu, 2012). The symptoms lasted more than 6 months and in accordance with DSM IV-TR these fall in criteria for paranoid schizophrenia thus he was precisely diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Since very few patients show all the signs of schizophrenia, being a psychologist, I must determine if Nash exhibited at least two psychotic symptoms for more than six months. In A Beautiful Mind, Nash portrays two symptoms of schizophrenia and they include delusions and hallucinations, which lasted more than six months, hence the movie portrays experiences many people with schizophrenia go through. For instance at the onset of the movie, Nash was able to take care of himself however, with time as the condition deteriorated he was unable to take care of himself. The consequences of his delusions and hallucinations led to dysfunctional relationships, which are prevalent in individuals with paranoid schizophrenia. I think Nash took a wrong approach; in this position, I would consider indulging in small social gatherings in order to explore adaptive behaviours to increase the ability as well as the success of socializing and accomplishing daily activities.

In addition, the community should be patient with Nash to reveal his delusions without engaging in struggle regarding the content or reality of Nash’s delusions. As well, in small social groupings, Nash could identify behaviours that distance him from friends as well as other significant people like family members. Successful treatment for Nash is a life-long routine of drugs combined with psychosocial support therapies with initial treatment involving support from family, friends and community. In order to help suppress the voices, Nash has to learn ways of integrating all relations as well as being able to communicate his delusions to the family and small social groups while taking the recommended drugs. Moreover, teaching Nash how to take good care of his body would be helpful in managing the symptoms as well as empowering him since self-care strategies would help him desist from feelings of being helpless.