Compare And Contrast The Movie And A Beautiful Mind

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Living with schizophrenia relays on ones ability to distinguish between what is physically real versus the false reality induced by delusions of the mind. Determining the misperceptions of reality that occur such as hallucinations and delusions require persistent effort to distinguish between reality and false perceptions (DSM-5). John Nash, brilliant mathematician and Nobel Prize winner depicts his experiences with Schizophrenia in both the book and movie “A Beautiful Mind”. The first scenes of the movie, “A Beautiful Mind”, take place at Princeton University. John Nash attends as a graduate student studying mathematics. The scenes reveal how socially inept Nash tends to be when dealing with people. Nash, regardless, of lack of social cues, …show more content…

It was evident even in grad school that Nash had a narcissistic god-like complex. When talking to his friend, Charles, who ended up being a hallucination, he described himself to Charles saying , “Despite my privileged upbringing, I 'm actually quite well-balanced. I have a chip on both shoulders”(A beautiful mind-the movie). The movie fails to acknowledge the religious aspects of Nash’s delusions which are revealed in the book, where Nash believed he would replace the Pope as the chair of Christendom. This delusion was most likely brought about by the fact that his wife was a devote Roman …show more content…

The onset, as noted in the DSM-5 criteria is gradual. Nash began to experience aspects of schizophrenia during grad school and as time went by the condition became more and more serious. the delusions were more regular, more severe and more life encroaching. The disease affected Nash in a biological, psychological and social way which is made known throughout the book and the movie, “A beautiful mind”. The most important aspect of this disease in my opinion is acknowledging the fact that with perseverance, a person can live with it. They need the will and courage to distinguish reality from false realities created by the human brain. I truly appreciated the struggle and empathized with Nash throughout the book and throughout the movie. He continued to be a brilliant, nobel prize winning mathematician despite his

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