Schizophrenia Case Study

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Throughout psychology today there are six different theoretical models that seek to explain and treat abnormal functioning or behavior. These different models have been a result of different ideas and beliefs over the course of history. As psychology began to grow so did the improvements in research techniques. As a result psychologists are able to explain a variety of disorders in terms of the six different theoretical models. In the movie A Beautiful Mind it follows the mathematician John Nash as he struggles with schizophrenia. It an attempt to explain John Nash’s disorder the six different theoretical models will be looked at, they include biological model, psychodynamic model, behavioral model, cognitive model, humanistic model, and socio-cultural model.

In John Nash’s case he was a brilliant mathematician who studied at Princeton University during the 1940’s. In the movie it displays John as being an odd eccentric person who kept to himself. After graduating from Princeton he becomes a professor at MIT, overtime though John starts to lose his perception of reality and eventually he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. During his time teaching, he is approached by the government and asked to work on breaking Soviet codes. This leads John to develop a conspiracy plot, he becomes increasingly paranoid and he cannot distinguish between realities. He begins to live in two different worlds, the real world around him, and the fictional world in which he thinks that the Soviets are trying to kidnap him and extract information from him. Eventually John is institutionalized for a brief period. His life thereafter consists of delusions and auditory hallucinations, but he was able to regain somewhat of a normal life with the use of ...

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...are prescribed antipsychotic medications to balance out their dopamine levels, which in turn can help them function properly and live a somewhat normal lifestyle (Schizophrenia, 2010). Even though the six theoretical models set out to explain abnormal behaviors they do not all apply to certain disorders. It is important to understand the underlying causes of a disorder in order to treat it. Every person is different, and the abnormal behaviors they suffer from require time and effort from psychologists and doctors who set out to treat them.

Works Cited

Comer, J. (2011). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

A Beautiful Mind. (2001). Retrieved February 24, 2012, from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/synopsis

Schizophrenia. (2012). Retrieved February 24, 2012, from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001925/

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