In the 2001 biographical drama film A Beautiful Mind, John...

In the 2001 biographical drama film A Beautiful Mind, John Nash is an American mathematician who suffers from a mental illness. At the beginning of the film, Nash arrives at Princeton University as a co-recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Scholarship for mathematics. Nash is an arrogant, socially awkward graduate student, who devotes most of his time trying to discover a revolutionary equation in mathematics. About halfway through the film, we discover that a certain number of people and events that occur are actually hallucinations and delusions created within Nashs mind. At this point, it becomes apparent to the audience that Nash is suffering from a severe mental disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health,†¦show more content†¦He acts out this internal struggle with a physical and verbal confrontation against Charles (however in reality, Charles does not exist and therefore Nash is fighting with himself). Charles provokes Nash to kill himself, telling him to â€Å"go on, bust your head, kill yourself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which demonstrates that Nash is having suicidal thoughts. His behavior also includes diminished impulse control as he throws a desk out the window of his dorm room. Nash attributes these thoughts and actions to Charles rather than himself since he believes Charles is a real person. John Nash suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and the most prominent symptom of paranoid schizophrenia is â€Å"absurd or suspicious ideas and beliefs† (Smith Segal, 2013). Over the course of the film, Nash demonstrates these symptoms. The ideas of delusions of persecution are the most frequent beliefs thought of by the individ ual and typically revolve around a centralized theme that remains consistent over time (Smith Segal, 2013). People with paranoid schizophrenia tend to have mistaken beliefs that one or more persons are plotting against them and putting their loved ones in harm’s way (Berger, 2012). With this condition, they end up spending a lot of time thinking about how to protect themselves from the person or people they believe are trying to hurt them (Berger, 2012). People with paranoid schizophrenia show a history of increasing paranoia and difficulties