‘A Beautiful Mind’ is a true story that was turned into a film in 2001 about a man named John Nash who struggled with schizophrenia throughout his life and how he eventually learned to overcome it. Throughout the film, John’s schizophrenia caused him to hallucinate and imagine people that did not actually exist. One of the men that John imagines named William Parcher convinces him that his coding skills are needed to help save the United States from a nuclear disaster. He did not know that William was not real so John would spend all of his time looking through newspapers and magazines trying to find clues about when and where the nuclear strike was going to happen. John’s wife Alicia, eventually noticed what John was up to and had him put into a mental institution where John would undergo insulin shock therapy which eventually stared to work and helped end the hallucinations. A few years later, John stopped taking his medication which caused the hallucinations to begin again. After John realized that William Parcher was fake, he learned to overcome and ignore the hallucinations. He then went on to develop a theory called the non-cooperative game theory which led to him winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Throughout the film John showed how his condition and mental state had changed over the years. The chapter from psychology that fit best with his condition and the way his behavior changed fits in with chapter four which talks about development throughout the life span. In ‘A Beautiful Mind’, John showed how his social development had changed over the years from his young adulthood when he first started college to his middle adulthood where he struggled the most with his schizophrenia and into his late adulthood where he won the Noble Prize for his work. All of these stages are involved in Erikson’s stages of psychological development.
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The film starts with John beginning his first year at Princeton University and this is where the first signs of his schizophrenia are shown. While at Princeton, John was supposed to be in a dorm room by himself but the audience is introduced to his first imaginary friend named Charles. When John first meets Charles, it is hard to tell that he is actually just in John’s imagination and not an actual person. During this time in college, he experienced intimacy vs. isolation which is a part of young adulthood in the stages of psychological development. John becomes very close with Charles over his years at Princeton but often struggled to become intimate and find love. He would often have chances to talk to girls but he would get nervous and mess up. After being rejected multiple times, John started to feel socially isolated from everyone else. Eventually John moved through the stages of intimacy vs. isolation and meets Alicia whom he eventually marries.
As John's life continued into his forties, he advanced into the social development stage of generativity vs. stagnation. He thought that he was being a productive member of society by working for William Parcher to break the code of when and where the nuclear strike is going to happen. After Alicia found out that John wasn’t actually going to work and that he was just spending all of his time trying to break the codes she ended up putting him in a mental hospital. Being put into the mental hospital, John felt helpless and that he was failing his ‘mission’. John’s behavior went from generativity to stagnation when he realized that all of the work, he had been doing was all for nothing.
Even though John’s life started to spiral downwards, he received the proper treatment and medication which helped reduce his hallucinations. Over time John decided to stop taking his medication which caused William and Charles to re appear. John eventually realized that they weren’t real and that he was just imagining them. Although John did not want to recognize that they weren’t actual people, he realized that over the years they have stayed the same and never got any older.
As John’s life reached late adulthood, he often struggled with integrity vs despair as he would be proud of an accomplishment of his and then remember how he struggled throughout his life. John learned to ignore his hallucinations and went back to Princeton to see if his old friend would offer him a job. After being offered a job teaching a math class, John felt unimportant that he wasn’t given an office and had to work out of the library. John’s life was progressively getting better as he became comfortable teaching and doing something with his life. One day after John was done teaching his class a man approached him to let him know that he was being considered for the Noble Peace Prize because of the thesis he had developed during his years in college. After feeling like he was failure and disappointment for so many years, he had an accomplishment that he could truly be proud of.
As a young adult in today’s society, it is easy to relate to the stage of intimacy vs. isolation. Having completed 4 years in a small high school and venturing to a new college with limited familiar faces, one can struggle with feeling socially isolated. It can be a daily struggle to feel included and step out of a comfort zone. Hopefully with the passage of time that insecure feeling will lead to close and intimate relationships. With my mother and father being in the middle adulthood stage, they are a great example of generativity vs. stagnation. As they have contributed to the world by having four children, paying taxes, and having jobs. They often wonder if their jobs provide enough or if there is something better that they could do. Parents often worry about if they have provided enough for their children and have directed them in the right path. This uncertainty can cause unending questions and concerns. As one reaches the late adult hood stage, people often reflect on their lives and either feel like they have been successful or could have done better. My grandparents are a great example of integrity vs. despair as they are well into their late adulthood and have spent time reflecting on their lives. They have a lot to be satisfied with as they had three children and started a family and now have 6 grandchildren.
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