In an email to a colleague in the mids, Nash said, "I emerged from irrational thinking, ultimately, without medicine other than the natural hormonal changes of aging," according to The New York Times. Nash and his wife Alicia died, at ages 86 and 82, respectively, in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike while en route home from a trip on which Nash had received a prestigious award for his work.
Studies done in the s, before medications for schizophrenia were available, found that about 20 percent of patients recovered on their own, while 80 percent did not, said Dr. More recent studies have found that, with treatment, up to 60 percent of schizophrenia patients can achieve remission, which researchers define as having minimal symptoms for at least six months, according to a review study in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment.
It's not clear why only some schizophrenia patients get better, but researchers do know that a number of factors are linked with better outcomes. Nash appeared to have had many of these factors in his favor, Moreno said. People who have a later onset of the disease tend to do better than those who experience their first episode of psychosis in their teens, Moreno said.
Nash was 30 years old when he started to experience symptoms of schizophrenia, which include hallucinations and delusions. In addition, social factors—such as having a job, a supportive community and a family that is able to help with everyday tasks—are also linked with better outcomes for schizophrenia patients, Moreno said.
Nash had supportive colleagues who helped him find jobs where people were protective of him, and a wife who cared for him and took him into her house even after the couple divorced, which may have prevented him from becoming homeless, according to an episode of the PBS show "American Experience" that focused on Nash. Fuller Torrey, a psychiatrist who specializes in schizophrenia, said in an interview with "American Experience.
However, Moreno said that many patients will get worse over time if they don't have access to proper medical care and are not in a supportive environment. Patients suffer financially because they can't work, physically because they can't take care of themselves, and socially because their bizarre behaviors distance them from others, Moreno said. It may be that the people who have supportive environments are the ones who are able to live to an older age, and have a better outcome, Moreno said.
As time progresses, Alicia watches Nash slowly distance himself from the real world as he works with Agent Parcher from the CIA who has recruited him to break codes. Eventually it becomes apparent that Nash requires psychiatric care, and Alicia discovers that her husband suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Nash learns that not only is Agent Parcher a hallucination, but Charles and Charles's niece, whom he has maintained a close relationship with, are also hallucinations. After his institutionalization, Nash becomes very withdrawn from society, not venturing outside his house and is cared for primarily by his wife.
This movie does an excellent job in highlighting the burden a psychiatric illness can put on loved ones. Alicia feels a burden in having to care for Nash as well as their newborn son, and is understandably despondent over the fact that Nash is not the man she married anymore. Nash finds that he does not have his same thinking abilities with taking the medication, so he, like many other patients with schizophrenia, secretly stops taking his medication. The seriousness of the matter becomes apparent to his wife when she finds his shed full of newspaper clippings after allowing Nash to give their son a bath.
Nash believes that Charles is watching his son, and if it were not for his wife, his son would have drowned. Nash and his wife agree that they would try and work things out without the medication; that if Nash knew what was real and what wasn't, he could function in the real world.
Nash slowly reintegrates himself into the academic community. He slowly returns to teaching and research and in , he receives the Nobel Prize in economics. The movie focuses on Nash's struggle with paranoid schizophrenia during the s and s. While the movie takes a few dramatic liberties with its depiction of schizophrenia, it also provides a fairly accurate portrayal of the disease.
For example, symptoms typically begin in early adulthood for males and often involve a significant stressor, such as beginning graduate courses at Princeton University. The film brings Nash's paranoid delusions to life through the character of William Parcher, a fictional agent for the United States Department of Defense.
Nash becomes fixated on his missions, which ultimately leads to hospitalization and psychiatric treatment. The psychosocial consequences the illness has on Nash's career and family are also reality for many patients suffering from severe mental illness. The film highlights another important component of mental health treatment; medication adverse effects. Nash begins treatment with an antipsychotic medication and experiences sedation and sexual dysfunction. It is in this scene where the audience is exposed to the truly cruel techniques that were used to cure schizophrenia.
The psychiatric hospital is all white, in every room and hallway and gives the audience an unsettling feeling about the place. It was during this time that new treatments were being developed to attempt to cure schizophrenia, which is shown when John is forced to undergo insulin shock therapy a couple times a week.
The results of this treatment were horrible and eventually were discredited as anti-psychotic drugs were introduced ABC News. The introduction of anti-psychotic drugs plays a very important role in allowing schizophrenic people to lead normal lives. Also during this scene, the movie makes it seem as if people with schizophrenia only need to spend a short amount of time in the hospital and get medication then return back to normal life.
This is also untrue as even John Nash was troubled for multiple decades by his disability and during this extended period of time he could not do any work. Relapse: After being released from the psychiatric hospital, John tried to resume his normal life and his mathematical research. However, he was required to take medication to help treat the symptoms of his.
John sits at a table as he prepares to bathe his baby. He does not look healthy or happy and it appears that his baby is crying. When taking his medication, he claims that he was not able to think freely and thus it caused him to make little or no progress with his research. As a result, John stops taking his medication so that he can think better. This costs him greatly as shortly after he stops taking his medication, he becomes delusional. John is giving his baby a bath one day after his wife went out into the backyard to hang up laundry.
She notices that something is off then sprints back inside to find their baby almost drowning while John is having a schizophrenic episode and telling her that Charles was watching the baby. She rescues the baby as while she watches John have an argument what seems like nothing but is actually with Charles and William Parcher.
When he runs at Parcher, he actually runs at his wife and knocks her over. As she attempts to leave the house, John runs out and explains that he has realized that none of what just happened was real, which shows that he recognized he was having a delusion.
This is where the mood of the movie changes as John has come to terms that he may or may not be able to defeat his schizophrenia. This scene presents another opportunity to let the audience know how John is feeling.
After leaving the psychiatric hospital, John has to take medicine that helps prevent the delusions from occurring however, this impedes his thinking so he stops taking the pills, which almost has disastrous consequences. This scene specifically does a good job of appealing to the emotions of the audience because almost everyone has taken medicine or been sick to the point where it affects how they think, which often times leads to people not taking their medication.
These drugs have a mild effect profile that help decrease the delusions, yet people still relapse Gil. These drugs affect how people think and feel so as a result people stop taking them. This shows how much more research needs to be done in order to understand schizophrenia more in order to prevent more relapses. This leads to the next point though, which is that medication may be the best solution but the best solution may not be able to solve everything.
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