John Nash Schizophrenia Essay

Most clinicians widely consider the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) to be the gold (best) standard for diagnosing potential individuals with mental disorders. John Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia under DSM-1. It is realistic to consider that John would have still be diagnosed with schizophrenia under DSM-5. According to DSM-5, schizophrenia is officially diagnosed if the individual shows a 2 or more criterions that need to be met before a diagnosis can occur (APA, 2013). Some of the symptoms a person typically experiences includes established disorganized and delusional thought patterns (APA, 2013) such as delusions, hallucinations and/or disorganized speech. It was not clearly noted in the movie that John suffered from disorganized speech. However, it is obviously indicated that John experienced both delusions and hallucinations. John hallucinated several individuals (Charles Herman, Charles’ niece, and William Paracher) for a timeframe longer than 6 months. Over many years, John experienced delusion of persecution as he believed that Soviet spies were chasing after him. To some extent, Nash experienced delusion of grandeur as he thought that only he (without the help of his colleagues) could crack what the Soviets are …show more content…
Kendra Thomson stated that individuals who develop schizophrenia typically have enlarged ventricles, increased dopamine activity and other various biological deviations from norm (PSYCH3140 lecture, July 15, 2014). Some of the psychological contributors to Nash’s schizophrenia are that during his time as a doctoral candidate, John was under a considerable amount of stress. In addition, right before his worst delusional episode, John faced negatively expressed emotions such as hostility and rage coming from his wife (Howard,