The film, A Beautiful Mind, portrays the story of John Forbes Nash Jr., an eminent mathematician. The biographical work directed by Ron Howard cinematically represents the life and ordeals of Professor Nash. His remarkable advancements in the “game theory” and marriage with his beautiful student Alicia face challenge of his ailment of schizophrenia which perturbs his life.
It becomes clear to the audience that the protagonist fulfils the DSM-IV criteria for the disease. He suffers from hallucinations and delusions right from his days in college as a student. He imagines of Agent William Parcher. He even imagines the kids and takes all of them to be real. His social dysfunction is also conspicuous as he seems obsessed with the mission which he believes he needs to complete. His interpersonal relations and self-care become worse as he suffers from the problem.
According to psychoanalytic theory, schizophrenic anxiety of the protagonist stems from his original anxiety with which his ego is reacting. The defensive maneuver is also in play in this regard. Symptoms like withdrawal, indifference, detachment constitute the garb behind which the intolerable suffering. The defensive structure of the protagonist has collapsed out of the disease and the unconscious drives manifest openly devoid of any intervention from the ego.
Nash was first kept under medical supervision at the mental health center and later he was released only to continue medication to avoid the transcendence of the disease. The treatment was helpful for him and he finally succeeded in having some control over the state of his mind. He went on to win the Nobel Prize and braved all odds to reach the paramount height of success and contentment in his life.
References
(2001). A Beautiful Mind. In Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved from
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beautiful_mind/
Barahal, Hyman S. (1958). A Psychoanalytic Approach to Schizophrenic Anxiety. Psychiatric
Quarterly, 32. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01575312
DSM-IV Criteria for Schizophrenia. In DNA Learning Center. Retrieved from
http://www.dnalc.org/view/899-DSM-IV-Criteria-for-Schizophrenia.html
