DSM-IV diagnostic criteria states that for a person to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, two or more of certain symptoms must be present for a significant portion of at least a one month period. These symptoms include: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence), grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms, i.e. affective flattening, alogia, or avolition.
The symptoms of schizophrenia I identified in the movie “A Beautiful Mind” were: antisocial behavior, hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and paranoia.
John Nash’s antisocial behavior was obvious from the very beginning of the movie where he is seen seated alone and not speaking to anyone. As the movie progresses he is rarely seen socializing with people other than his roommate who he confides in and to whom he states prophetically that “the truth is I don’t like people much, and they don’t much like me.” We later find out that this roommate was actually a product of his imagination.
This brings us to the next symptom of schizophrenia depicted in the film, hallucinations. John Nash, in the film, had hallucinations of different people who spoke and interacted with him frequently. His roommate, who I previously mentioned, was one. Later on in the movie, his roommate introduced him to his niece, who, he came to realize, never grew up. Then, there was also a government agent who gave him instructions to solve codes for a topic secret mission.
These hallucinations resulted in delusions, which is the next symptom. Dictionary.com defines delusions as “a false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence.” John Nash’s delusions came from his hallucinations. First off, he believed these people were there, even though they weren’t. Secondly, they would tell him things like that he had been hired for a secret government mission, even though he wasn’t. These delusions often led him to ramble on about things that no one understood (disorganized speech; another symptom of schizophrenia).
John Nash was also depicted as paranoid in the film. When he was admitted into a mental institution, he thought that he was captured by Russian operatives. He told his wife that she needed to contact some people to try to help him escape. She tried to explain to him that he had a disease and they were trying to help him, but he didn’t believe her. It wasn’t until he tried to dig a chip that he believed had been imbedded beneath his skin out, resulting in self-afflicted injury, that he became co-operative.
I am hesitant to list disorganized or catatonic behavior as one of the symptoms depicted in the movie. There was a moment in the film where John Nash was sitting still, seemingly oblivious to the cries of his infant son who sat in the nook of his arm, but I don’t think that counts, because his unmoving state was a result of absent-mindedness more so than catatonia. As for disorganized behavior, Nash was often depicted making sporadic movement, mostly with his hands. That behavior seems disorganized, but they weren’t “grossly” disorganized as described in the DSM-IV criteria.
Negative symptoms, i.e. affective flattening, alogia and avoliton, were not depicted in the movie at all. Actually, there was some affective flattening, but I think the filmmakers gave Nash’s character a substantial amount of emotionality so the audience could relate to him.
