A BEAUTIFUL MIND

(Published in the East Bay Psychiatric Association Newsletter, January 2002)


Hollywood had not been too kind to the mentally ill or to psychiatrists in the past. Portrayals of emotionally disturbed individuals has often been stereotypical and demeaning, and psychiatrists have often been portrayed as eccentric, emotionally detached, or sadistic. All this has changed with the recent movie, "A Beautiful Mind" , where paranoid schizophrenia is presented in a most dramatic and sympathetic fashion.

This is not a movie that psychiatrists should try to see. This is a movie that psychiatrists must see! As more and more people see this film, more and more are asking me, “Is this what schizophrenia is really like?” This provides an opportunity to discuss the nature of severe mental illness. More importantly, the population at large should come to be far more empathic with the plight of the mentally ill. This movie could do more to advance the cause of psychiatric treatment than any educational program the American Psychiatric Association could dream up to create support for our work.

The movie has certain flaws. It is about a real individual, John Nash, who is still living today, who was such a brilliant mathematician as a graduate student that he eventually won the Nobel Prize for his work. But subsequent to his graduate school years, he became schizophrenic. The movie leaves out certain less than pleasant details of Nash's life to create a more sympathetic character. And there is a note of unreality in the depiction of a remission of the illness that might give families false hope for an ill loved one. The implicit message is that sufficient community support, an enormously loving relationship, and proper medication can cure the illness.

Nonetheless, the overall dramatic impact of the film is enormous. It was so great on me that I left the theater shaken. It took me a long time to feel composed enough to express my thoughts, as the reality of the portrayal overwhelmed me as it reminded me of all those broken minds in patients of mine through the years that I have toiled to mend.

"A Beautiful Mind" is a beautiful movie, with stellar acting on the part of Russell Crowe who plays John Nash, and Jennifer Connelly who plays his wife, and whose talent appears equal to her substantial beauty. The movie is based on the book by the same name written by Sylvia Nasar, and while I have not read the book, others who have, rate the book as superior to the movie, which is indeed a great compliment.