What A Beautiful Mind taught me about compassion

I could watch A Beautiful Mind a hundred times and not get bored. This movie, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, is about the life of genius mathematician John Nash (superbly played by Russell Crowe).

I believe this movie gives a lot of insight into schizophrenia and the people who suffer from it. Yes, John Nash, the winner of the Nobel Prize in 1974 for his theories on probability, is schizophrenic. But despite this debilitating life-long mental handicap, he has significantly contributed to our society because of his genius mind (hence, the movie’s title, A Beautiful Mind).

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric illness characterized by a cluster of symptoms including hallucinations (sensations of the existence of something when in reality it is non-existent) and bizarre delusions. John Nash had visual hallucinations that came in the form of three people (a little girl, his male best friend with whom he shared a dorm and the FBI agent who kept following him). The three were really non-existent. Schizophrenics also have delusions (false beliefs). John Nash believed that he had a special mission with the FBI and that he was being followed by people who were trying to kill him. In reality, he did not have a special mission with the FBI and no one was trying to kill him.

The incidence of schizophrenia is only one percent. Usually, schizophrenia’s onset in males is earlier than in females (in males it begins at 15 to 25 years old; in females, it peaks at 29 to 35). It afflicts people of all social classes. Although its cause is still unknown, psychiatrists believe it is a combination of many factors – genetic, environmental, social, anatomical and physiological. People who are more susceptible to schizophrenia usually have a premorbid state that predisposes them to having it. Usually, these people are schizoids – quiet, passive, had few friends as a child and are introverts and loners as adolescents and adults. They have few dates and are frequently fond of daydreaming.

Usually, when a stressor (i.e., a death in the family, failures, relationship breakups and other stressful life experiences) happens to a schizophrenic, it triggers the symptoms which includes hallucinations and bizarre delusions. In the case of John Nash, although he had visual hallucinations since college, his symptoms were aggravated when he got married. He probably couldn’t accept the sexual responsibility that came with being married (just kidding!). But it could be quite true for Nash since his mind is very logical. I believe that he couldn’t imagine himself having sex with his wife for whom he had great respect because sex is a very primal instinct which his mind was not accustomed to thinking about.

Schizophrenia is a life-long disease and it has stages. Only medical treatment and psychotherapy can make schizophrenics asymptomatic but the disease remains. Medicines only reduce the symptoms but do not completely heal the disease. It’s just like people with diabetes and heart disease – they take a lot of medications but the diseases are still there; diabetics will always be diabetics and schizophrenics will always be schizophrenics. When they are asymptomatic, schizophrenics are in a stage of remission.

Psychotherapy is also needed for schizophrenics because the ones who are greatly affected by the disease are the immediate family members. Schizophrenics must be treated with a lot of understanding and love. Intake of medications should be closely monitored because schizophrenics usually undergo a period of denial. They do not believe that they need medications because they believe that they are not sick. John Nash did not take his medications and this led to the recurrence of the hallucinations and the bizarre delusions that he usually had.

The best part of the movie was during his speech when he was awarded the Nobel prize. John Nash said, "I always believed in numbers.Logic that leads to reason. And I ask, what is truly logic? Why is there reason? I have been to the metaphysical, physical and the delusional and back. And this was my most important discovery: It is only in the mysterious equation of love that the equation of logic can be found."

If it weren’t for his wife’s support and love, Nash would not have been cured and would probably not have won the Nobel prize. He probably would be wandering on the streets unknown. But his wife loved him so much and it was this love that cured him and led him to win the most coveted prize in the world.

Now you may ask, why is A Beautiful Mind my favorite movie? Our society looks down on people with psychiatric illnesses but John Nash proved that having a mental disorder like schizophrenia is not a limitation to contributing significantly to society.

Having schizophrenia is just like having any other medical ailment like diabetes, asthma, cancer or tuberculosis. Thus, our society should not be prejudicial to people with mental disorders. There is a thin line between what society considers normal and what is neurotic. A neurotic person can become a psychotic person, one who may need psychiatric treatment. We are all susceptible to becoming mentally disturbed if we do not live balanced lives.

A Beautiful Mind helps understand the mentally ill and how they should be treated. Just like any person who is sick, schizophrenics should be treated with understanding and love. And for all you know, a schizophrenic person just like John Nash could even be better than a normal person.

Schizophrenics are usually very intelligent people, more intelligent than normal people like us. They are usually achievers and highly-gifted people.

So, if you know of someone who has schizophrenia, just remember John Nash. Then treat that person with understanding, kindness and love.