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Nursing Case Study For Movie

Wunmi F. Watley-Olokun

ITT Technical Institute

NU 250 Mental Health Nursing

06/26/2013.

The focus of the case study is the character's mental health status. Discuss the character in each

of the following areas.

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Name of Movie: A Beautiful Mind

Character Name: John Nash

Mental Disorder (identified as per DSM):

1-What sign and symptoms did the character present? Where they still present at the end?

The first of these positive symptoms are seen through the hallucinations John has of

having a room-mate and he was paranoid too.

2-How does the character deal with stress? Discuss both functional and dysfunctional coping

mechanisms and defense mechanisms you assessed.

Throughout the movie, the dysfunctional coping mechanism was evident when the

character had difficulty concentrating, it is evident that Nash is socially withdrawn; he is

rarely in the company of others, and when he is, he feels very awkward. In the scene

where he attends a party with Alicia his wife, Nash speaks with her, but spends more time

inspecting paintings and thinking to himself than he does speaking to the others in

attendance; in fact, Nash only speaks to the others at the party when they initiate the

conversation, and even then, Nash is very terse in his replies.

Most likely that the stress of new, unfamiliar, and competitive environment is what

caused Mr. Nash’s first positive symptom of schizophrenia to emerge, a visual and

auditory hallucination in the form of a roommate, and later friend, named Charles

Herman. Positive symptoms reflect an excess or distortion in normal behavior and

experience (i.e. delusions and hallucinations), whereas negative symptoms reflect an

absence or deficit in normal behaviors and experience

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On the other hand, coping mechanism that the character abducts at a time was Self-

Directed mechanism which leads to the control, exercise his choice over and determine

his own path of recovery when he went against Dr. Rosen's advice, Nash decides not to

restart his medication, believing that he can deal with his symptoms in another way.

Alicia his wife stayed and supported him in this.

3-What is the quality of the character’s relationships? How does this impact on his self- esteem

Alicia, the character’s wife was supportive in their relationship, a stabilizing influence for

him. John was very confident in his abilities, later, his self-esteem becomes quite low

after years of symptoms and social isolation that at a time, he physically cut his own arm

without regard to his safety.

4-How motivated do you think the character is to change? How likely is improvement?

The kicker in the character’s illness is when he discovers the most prominent

hallucination in his life, revealed as just that, a figment, Nash finally begins to

comprehend the severity of his illness. And he abducted an Individual and Person

Centered skill based on his strength to fight back.

5-What is the content of the character’s thoughts? What is the impact of these thoughts on his

current situation?

The primary problem for Nash was his inability to distinguish between reality and his

delusions. During his delusional periods, Nash saw an imaginary room-mate, Charles.

The movie audience shares the delusion of Nash. Charles is shown as a real person, who

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greets him on checking into his hostel room when joining college. Nash did not

consciously create his delusion. Actually, it began in his mind 350 milliseconds before

Nash actually saw Charles.

6-How aware is the character of his feelings? Feelings does he express? Are there feelings you

think he might be suppressing?

For patients, suffering from schizophrenia, is a balancing act between a true existence in

the present, and the stray flights from delusions inflicted by the mind and thoughts filled

with paranoid tormentors. It is a fight to be in charge of their own feelings, opinions and

intellect. He goes around wearing an old knitted hat, both indoors and outdoors. He is an

unusual man, clearly affected by the disease. That he is not aware of his feelings.

However, there are times when he is able to conduct a line of reasoning with students – at

least with those who are not put off by his strange behavior.

7-Who does the character consider to be supportive? Are there other people you think are

supportive that the character did not recognize?

The character considered his wife Alicia to be supportive; I credit the love and faith of

Nash's wife, Alicia, as a significant factor in his recovery. Yes, there are other people that

were supportive that he did not recognize, like his Doctor, Dr. Rosen.

8-What talents, strengths, assets do you think he character has? Does he recognize them?

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His intellectual ability was his assets. He is a gifted mathematician who began graduate

school at Princeton University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize even though he suffered

from schizophrenia. Yes, he did and realizes that he was unequal to his peers.

9-What is the character’s overall physical and emotional health?

Even as he took medication to suppress the symptoms, Nash is shown returning to normal

life by becoming self-aware. The visually presented psychological symptoms in the

movie effectively convey the barriers to distinguishing subconscious patterns within the

mind.

There was a point in the movie where he mentions, "I really miss talking to him." When

John begins to learn to deal with his delusions,

10-How did you respond to this character? What thoughts and feelings did you have while

watching this movie?

In watching A Beautiful Mind, I was exposed to the difficulties and struggles faced by

those with paranoid schizophrenia, as well as the people that surround them, such as

family and friends. This movie allows an unexposed individual to gain understanding and

become more empathetic towards people struggling with schizophrenia, and mental

illness in general. Because it contains information about the illness itself as well as its

treatment and its effect on others in the lives of the effected, the I truthfully gain insight

into the disorder, especially on the symptoms and the various ways in which it is

managed and also, learned that a person with schizophrenia is more than just the sum of

his symptoms. This is, of course, admirable.

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Diagnostic Impression:

Axis I -Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type, Continuous

Axis II -No Diagnosis

Axis III -None

Axis IV -Psychosocial and Educational Stressors

Axis V GAF = 55 (highest level in past 30 years)