Question:
John Nash may have been bipolar/schizophrenic?
Answer:
John Nash, immortalized by Russell Crowe as a tormented genius in A
Beautiful Mind, suffered bipolar disorder - or manic depression - rather
than schizophrenia, says an Australian psychiatrist.
University of NSW Professor of Psychiatry Gordon Parker, who has reappraised
the maths genius's biography, said: "A significant percentage of people who
have bipolar disorder are, possibly like John Nash, misdiagnosed as having
schizophrenia."
Professor Parker said based on Sylvia Nasar's biography, the age at which Mr
Nash developed his illness, his family history and his clinical features all
pointed to bipolar disorder rather than schizophrenia."
One of the biggest clues was that Mr Nash experienced two of his major three
manic episodes in the Spring.
"We've known since the time of Hippocrates that manic episodes are much more
likely to come on in Springtime," Professor Parker said.
"As soon as we start having those wonderfully clear blue skies the manic
people come out of the woodwork and fill up the wards."
He said people with bipolar mania felt energised, wired and talkative. They
were more likely to spend money, be physically and verbally indiscreet, have
high libido and experience "cosmic insights".
Interspersed with this were episodes of severe, persistent, melancholic
depression, he said.
"Nash had all that - he had heightened awareness, racing thoughts ... he had
the cosmic insights - you don't get that in schizophrenia," he said.
"In schizophrenia people are much more within themselves, they're
preoccupied by delusions and hallucinations and there's not much mood
change."
Professor Parker outlined his theory at the Australian Bipolar Disorder
Conference 2002 in Melbourne today.
He said if Mr Nash did turn out to be misdiagnosed he would not be alone,
with almost one quarter of patients with bipolar disorder wrongly diagnosed
as having schizophrenia.
Misdiagnosis had serious implications, Professor Parker said, because it
meant people were missing out on treatment that could vastly improve their
quality of life.
Bipolar disorder is treated with mood stabilisers while schizophrenia is
treated with anti-psychotic drugs.
Professor Parker has not met Mr Nash but said he would welcome the
opportunity.
"The possibility of meeting him and going through it would intrigue me," he
said.
But nashed cured himself without drugs.
You don't get that with schizophrenia? Give me a break!! I'm no
doctor but I am pretty sure these are definitely symptoms of
schizophrenia. (WARNING: If you have not seen the movie and you do not
want it ruined for you STOP READING RIGHT NOW!) If the movie is
accurate, John Nash believed he was finding coded messages in
newspapers and magazines from communist spies. He believed he was
helping the CIA by decoding these messages and leaving them in a
secret drop box. If this kind of behavior does not describe
schizophrenia than I don't have a clue what schizophrenia is and I
have been misdiagnosed too!! By the way, if any of you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend
it. I think it does a nice job of showing non-sz people what it is
like to suffer psychosis and paranoid delusions. John Nash is
protrayed in a very good light and the film may be an inspiration to
those who stuggle with sz.
It is an excellent movie and I frown upon this doktor who has never seen him but is trying
to change his diagnosis.
I agree completely with your thoughts on the movie and how sz is
portrayed. I honestly cried through the second half of the movie
because I suddenly didn't feel so alone with my illness. Someone
finally made it so clear and honest and I loved it very much. The downside was when I started searching the internet to learn more
about the man and his life was portrayed very "nice" in the movie
compared to what the reality is. It doesn't take anything away from
how I feel about the movie and what it did for me. It was just a
little let down from my high so to speak.
Definetely a good movie for anyone who has or knows someone who
suffers from the illness.
