The Reel Life Of A Genius
In the movie A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe played John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who developed the game theory of economics, for which he later won the Nobel Prize in 1994. At the age of 31 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered a mental breakdown. Because of his hallucinations and bizarre behavior, he was institutionalized and put on anti-psychotic drugs. He stopped taking them however, after he discovered that they reduced his sex drive, confused his emotions and prevented him from being able to think clearly and effectively. Instead, he attempted to take control of the disease though extreme willpower. As he became older he did take newer medications that helped him live a more "normal" life while still allowing him to work to his full potential. The film, for the most part, accurately showed the devastating effects that schizophrenia can cause in a persons' life; the terror of living through experiences that seem so real, and the agony that both
Although Nash deals with his symptoms by ignoring his hallucinations, in reality one cannot cope with the disease without a combination of medications, support and therapy. Thumbs up to A Beautiful Mind! . In the movie many of Nash's classmates treated him with disrespect and made fun of him, knowing that there was something different about him. Some schizophrenics feel that they have no control over their illness, but while one cannot make it disappear, many people do learn to cope with the disease. But this is hard to imagine and we can only empathize with those who do have schizophrenia and support them in every way that we can. With the advancements in these areas many people with schizophrenia can live their lives rather successfully. Insulin coma therapy has since been discredited and is no longer used, due to its severe side effects. Also, with the introduction of anti-psychotics, which were safer and more effective, there was no longer the need to put patients through the torture of insulin therapy. They do indeed hear voices that seem to come out of thin air, but those who do have hallucinations tend to see distorted, and non-lifelike figures. Anti-psychotic medications and institutionalization are still widely used today. The movie leaves much for its viewers to ponder in that we try to imagine exactly how it would feel to be in Nash's shoes and live a life like him. The film's biggest accomplishment is the ability to help us understand what it would be like, at least to some degree, to be schizophrenic. I follow him as he fell deeper into psychosis and I felt what he felt and saw what he saw. I finished this movie knowing more about schizophrenia then Nash's game theory, which is beneficial to its viewers. Nash refused to take his medications in the movie, which sends a powerful message about willpower.
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