Psychological Analysis - A Beautiful Mind

Psychological Analysis - A Beautiful Mind

Introduction

There are a number of useful and life changing psychological lessons in the movie A Beautiful Life. Perhaps the most valuable of these lessons is the fact that people should be self aware of their psychological and physical needs. The film uses a good mix of visual and emotional themes to express the pain and mental illness that affects the person at a physical as well as at a much deeper spiritual level. The story of the movie is based on the life of Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Sir John Forbes Nash (Funaki 2009, p129-130).

The film depicts Russell Crowe depicting Sir John Nash through the initiation and development of schizophrenia. His condition becomes severed due to auditory and visual delusion suffered by John Nash. The story is not only about the psychological hardships of John Nash but also the mental, social and economic hardships of his family and friends. This research paper analyzes the various psychological themes present in the movie A Beautiful Mind.

Movie Analysis

Awareness Happens at a Later Stage

During the early stages of the disease, Nash develops a strong friendship with an imaginary friend, Charles. The director has done a wonderful job in depicting the scenes with such depth that the audience is grasped with the emptiness of Nash and his delusions. The character of Charles is shown as living character and meets Nash when he joins the hostel. This is a delusion which is developed even before Nash actually enters the hostel at a rate of 350 milliseconds (Osherson 1998, p159). This phenomenon shows that the conscious act of thinking acts was quickly and the physical motor reactions take time to catch up. So, in order to help Nash, the counselor should have an understanding that Nash's delusions take control of his behavior way before he is able to establish the truth regarding its reality.

Hoodwinking RI

The condition of Nash's delusional state was very complex. The imaginary people that were present in Nash mind included a friend Charles, Marcie (Charles niece), William Parcher (Secret Agency Agent). The roles that were exhibited and the control that these imaginary people had over the psychological state of Nash are mesmerizing. Nash had developed a delusion that he was working for the Parcher to crack Soviet's encrypted codes. Later he came under the delusion that Soviet spies were after his family and become excessively paranoid.

Finally, Nash realized that he was hallucinating when he was confronted by his wife regarding the strange documents that he secretly mailed to a house. Nash discovered that Parcher and his heroic story did not exist and it was his mind playing games with him. The way Nash responded to this realization shows how anyone would do so under similar circumstances. If emotional intelligence and self awareness therapies were administered on Nash, they would have helped in proving speedy recovery for Nash.

Emotional Limits

In order to help Nash lead a normal life, he had to be go ...