Schizophrenia In Russell Crowe's A Beautiful Mind

The character that we have chosen to focus on for our assignment is John Nash, portrayed by Russell Crowe, in A Beautiful Mind. John Nash is a schizophrenic, though he is only diagnosed with the mental disorder during the latter half of the movie. Even so, he began showing signs of schizophrenia early in the movie during his time as a graduate student in Princeton University. When John was in Princeton, he was a proud and egoistic person, believing himself and his work better than his peers, calling the achievements of his fellow students ‘without innovation’ and ‘derivative drivel’. He dreamed of coming up with an ‘original idea’ that would distinguish him from other people. His egocentrism came off as arrogance and he was nearly obsessive when it came to finding his ‘original idea’. As a result, he was rather reclusive and bordered on being antisocial; John did not attend any of his classes when he was in Princeton and he seldom mingled with his

However, another 25% also show improvement but still require extensive support (Schizophrenia Facts and Statistics, n.d.). Based on this, we can see that a high proportion of patients are able to live normal lives after treatment. Although relapses may occur if the patient stops taking medication after recovery, most of the patients who are aware that they have suffered a relapse will search for assistance to prevent anymore instances of a relapse occurring. In John Nash’s case, he is fully aware of his schizophrenic delusions, which he chooses to actively ignore to prevent any psychotic episodes. All in all, schizophrenia can be troublesome if it is not adequately treated. On the bright side, if it is taken care of, schizophrenic patients are still able to live relatively normal