I'm currently listening to a "A Beautiful Mind", a biography of Nobel Prize Winner John Nash, who succumbed to serious schizophrenia for many years
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Like others have said, the movie makes him out as eccentric in his pre-delusional days, but not completely "nutbar." As part of that eccentricity is some poor-social skills stuff, but he's never portrayed as mean. What comes across as mean in the book was probably touched up in the movie to come across as almost-slightly-endearing socially-careless genius behavior.
I think you are very right. I'm sure they didn't show Nash throwing down his future wife at a mathematics part and putting his foot on her neck, now did they?
Oh, I'm sure they left some things completely out in addition to nicefying/quirkifying much of what they did keep.
But they actually might have kept that particular party bit in some fashion because it seems vaguely familiar. Not familar enough for me to say for sure, or to say how it was presented if it was presented though.
i love being a psych geekbeelzebabeJune 15 2007, 13:19:53 UTC
Schizophrenia doesn't hit you out of nowhere, they earlier behaviors you describe sound like the begining of his illness. Any yes you are right that sick does not always equate with a sympathetic charater (look at Hitler, someone could easily argue him out to be an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic)
If you read me those symptoms, and didn't tell me that it was John Nash, I'd say this is someone who is probably Schizoaffective (schizophrenia superimposed ontop of severe mood instability) with a childhood hx of conduct disorder (which often develops into narcacistic and sociopathic traits as an adult)
But he was diagnosed in the 60's (50's) and we are much better and pinpointing and treating these things today.
Re: i love being a psych geeknex0sJune 15 2007, 13:52:54 UTC
Ah, OK.
I wish that the author had said something about this though during the book, because as we move through the book, all I can think is "WHat an asshole!" instead of saying, "Wow. Look at how schizophrenia destroys lives."
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I've not read the book.
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But they actually might have kept that particular party bit in some fashion because it seems vaguely familiar. Not familar enough for me to say for sure, or to say how it was presented if it was presented though.
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If you read me those symptoms, and didn't tell me that it was John Nash, I'd say this is someone who is probably Schizoaffective (schizophrenia superimposed ontop of severe mood instability) with a childhood hx of conduct disorder (which often develops into narcacistic and sociopathic traits as an adult)
But he was diagnosed in the 60's (50's) and we are much better and pinpointing and treating these things today.
Reply
I wish that the author had said something about this though during the book, because as we move through the book, all I can think is "WHat an asshole!" instead of saying, "Wow. Look at how schizophrenia destroys lives."
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