Reflective Analysis of A Beautiful Mind

 

In my opinion, this movie was one of the best I have ever see. By far this is me saying a lot because I hate old movies. The way the director portrayed schizophrenia was wonderful. At the beginning of the movie I thought what he was seeing was real myself, and even his roommate that he thought he had. I really want to know where he really went when he thought he was getting chased by the Russians. The entire movie had me guessing as to what would happen from beginning end. I even started to think that his wife might have been part of his hallucinations too. It was very sad to see how his wife had to deal with him. I felt bad because I felt as though their relationship was one sided and she was putting in most of the effort. I would have liked to see more of his son; and how he viewed his dad knowing he had this disorder. It was nice to see in the end that he did give credit to his wife and I thought that was the best part of the movie.

I understand that back then they did not have many options when it came down to medication. When I saw them using the insulin shock therapy I was very stunned. I don’t know what insulin does to the body but when I saw him shaking and trembling I saw concerned. I was asking myself questions like “how does this help him” or what are the effects of using this treatment. I didn’t understand how the insulin shock therapy would help him in any way; and I still don’t know how it works. Although as I seen it did help him with his hallucinations along with the pills that he had to take. Although I would have liked it more if they showed the other options they had for medication.  I don’t know if they used electro shock therapy but I would have loved to see how that procedure went.

When it comes to schizophrenia those who have it may not all have the same type of schizophrenia. Such as, someone with schizophrenia could be delusional. This means that they have beliefs that can be proven wrong. For example, having super powers, being a famous person, or having friends that aren’t really there. Disorganized speech is another form of schizophrenia that someone could have. Someone who has disorganized speech may use words or sentences that don’t make sense to others. Exhibiting strange behaviors is one more form of schizophrenia. This is harder to categorize because what may be strange to us may not be strange to them. Strange behavior may include acting in an odd or repetitive manor; like walking in circles, sitting perfectly still or being quiet for hours on end. Withdrawn and lifelessness is another form of schizophrenia. People who have this show no feelings or motivation, or they lack interest in normal daily activities.

Since the symptoms for schizophrenia vary the amount of impact it has on a person’s life can range from troublesome to dangerous. Everything can be affected from school, to work, to home etc. someone with schizophrenia could have a change in friends or isolate themselves; they could also have difficulty in school, sleep problems, or being very irritably. These types of change usually happen when the person is an adolescent. Once they become adults these symptoms could get worse and are harder to deal with. For example, having hallucinations and delusions are symptoms that can occur during adult hood. Disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, muscle immobility are also examples of symptoms that an adult with schizophrenia could have. All these symptoms can cause someone with schizophrenia to lose their job, it can impact their social life, make having relationships difficult. Life with schizophrenia makes it hard to function as a person and can lead to depression. It’s also very hard on the family members who have to take care of the person. Schizophrenia takes up much time and effort for the families who have to help manage. Sadly, if the person with schizophrenia doesn’t redraw from the family the family may redraw from them.

If I knew that everything and everyone I knew didn’t exist I think life would be hell. I really don’t know how I would deal with this honestly. But if I had to explain it would probably be how the main character handled it. I would try to see who or what part of my life wasn’t real. Once I found the unreal part of life I would try to either ignore it or find a way to deal with it. Depending if I had a wife or girlfriend at the time I don’t think anti-depressant pills would be an option due to the erectile dysfunction. If I didn’t have a wife or girlfriend that is the only way, I would consider those pills. I also think it would be harder to recognize what’s real and what isn’t real.

I think I could live with someone suffering from schizophrenia depending on the symptom they have. If they were having hallucinations, then I could live with that due to the fact that I could help them realize what’s real and what isn’t. what I couldn’t live with is the lifelessness symptom that someone with schizophrenia could have. I think this is the worst because if you can’t communicate with the person it would be rather difficult to help them. Although that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try to help them because I would be like I said it would be difficult. Do I think people with schizophrenia should be permanently hospitalized? Again I would say if depends on the symptoms they have and how bad they have it. In society today people with mental disorders are treated unfairly. Some people view them as monsters instead of treating them like humans. I am kind of the same way because sometimes when I see a person that I know has a mental disorder I feel uncomfortable towards them. Other times I feel bad for them because although I don’t know how they are suffering I can understand what they could be going through.