Film Analysis: A Beautiful Mind

Since the birth of movies, Hollywood has strived to delve into the human experience and present certain aspects of life to the general population. Mental disorders are just one of many topics that are often explored for use in the media. The film A Beautiful Mind focuses specifically on paranoid schizophrenia, and follows protagonist John Nash’s life as he lives with the disorder. The film details Nash’s presymptomatic life at Princeton University, follows him through the early stages of the disorder, and continues as the symptoms begin to overrun his life. Luckily for Nash, his disorder is eventually clinically diagnosed and he is treated. The movie not only shares the tale of Nash’s life, but also shares with audiences a lesson about the

Teodorescu, Ifteni, Burtea, Fodoreanu, and Moga (2014) reported that there is a statistically strong correlation between delusions of persecution and apprehension in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. In other words, many people with paranoid schizophrenia also exhibit symptoms of high anxiety or worry, and these symptoms can contribute the intensity of the delusions (Teodorescu et al., 2014, p. 62). Along with these delusions, individuals with paranoid schizophrenia often have grandiose delusions, which the DSM-V (2013) defines as a delusion in which the individual believes they are extremely important, or possess a great ability. The scenes in A Beautiful Mind greatly conform to the symptoms that are typically shown in individuals with paranoid schizophrenia. Nash was suffering delusions that he was being conspired against, grandiose delusions, hallucinations, and great anxiety. Just as was seen by Teodorescu et al. (2014), Nash’s feelings of persecution are presented alongside his intense worry and anxiety, and as his delusions grow stronger during the movie, so does his level of

While the movie does not explain how or why Nash is affected by paranoid schizophrenia, it does brilliantly portray the common symptoms and treatments of the disorder. Not only does it teach audiences the facts about this type of schizophrenia, the film allows audiences to truly understand the mental disorder from a medical, personal, and emotional perspective. John Nash is just one of many people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and films such as A Beautiful Mind are an important way that their stories can be