Paranoid Schizophrenia In Black Swan

The film, Black Swan, contained many examples of psychological disorders that are represented in the DSM-5. In the film, Nina Sayers is picked to become the swan queen of the dance recital, Black Swan. Nina’s psychological state of mind tends to diminish after earning her role as the swan queen. After examining Nina’s role in the film, her behavior suggests that she may be suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia.
Nina Sayers is a shy and frigid girl. She is a member of a ballet company in New York City. The company holds an audition for the piece, Black Swan, under a sexually aggressive director. The variation of the piece requires Nina Sayers to be both, the black and white swan. This causes stress to Nina because her personality is different than what is required to be the “Black Swan”. Throughout the film, viewers notice a change in Nina’s behavior.
Paranoid Schizophrenia is a subdivision of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a severe disorder that is characterized by disorganization of the individual’s thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors. To meet criteria for Schizophrenia, the individual often experiences two or more of the following: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly …show more content…
Nina had many experiences of visual hallucinations. The first hallucination was when Nina was on the subway. She believed to see herself on another train and getting off at a different stop. This is unusual because it was impossible for her to see herself in another location. Nina has another visual hallucination while in her bedroom. Nina was participating in masturbation and become afraid when she saw a woman sitting, in the corner of her room, watching her. Later she realizes that there was no one else in the room with her. Another example of a visual hallucination is when Nina went to go take a bath. In this scene, Nina is relaxing in her bathtub but is frightened by an unknown women bleeding into her bath