Posted by wendy b. on January 21, 2003, at 8:32:42
In reply to Re: 'A Beautiful Mind' anyone? » syringachalet, posted by M. Lee on January 21, 2003, at 6:09:15
> Hi,
>
> > I feel you were wise to be uncomfortable that the movie attempted to betray JN as "willed himself well".
> >
>
> The movie portrays Nash's belief accurately. He really does think that he "willed" himself better.
>
> Here's a couple of quotes from Nash's biography:
>
> "Actually, it can be analogous to the role of willpower in effectively dieting: if one make an effort to 'rationalize' one's thinking then one can simply recognize and reject the irrational hypotheses of delusional thinking."
>
> [Nash's son has been diagnosed with the same illness.]
>
> "I don't think of my son ... as entirely a sufferer. In part, he is simply _choosing_ to escape from 'the world.'"
>
> [The emphasis on _choosing_ is Nash's]
>
> So, the willpower theme is not due to Hollywood embelishing the story.
>
> I'm still uncomfortable with the idea. But, I blame Nash, not the film makers.
Hi M.Lee and Syringachalet,This conversation is interesting... I knew I'd read stories, though, about remission in schizophrenia. Some research has borne this out. Just a couple examples from a quick google search:
http://www.healthrising.com/stories/schrem.html
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article460.htmlSo, whatever Nash attributed his recovery to (mind over matter, or willing himself well, or whatever), there is evidence that remission from the disease does happen. Which is painful to hear to people who struggle every damned day to "get over" their refractory schizophrenia, depression, bipolar, anxiety, PTSD, or other illnesses... It puts a lot of pressure on us and makes some of us feel that we're just malingerers.
I know that most people who visit psychobabble are more sophisticated in their thinking than this, but for an uniformed public just going out to see a movie like "A Beautiful Mind," it reinforces stereotypes about our illnesses that really could do without being reinforced. So Nash's struggle with his illness makes for a great tale of "moral courage," blah blah. And so interesting that the movie twists the facts to imply he got well because of new meds... But, hey, that's Hollywood.
best wishes,
Wendy
poster:wendy b.
thread:34562
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030120/msgs/35619.html