Posted by wendy b. on January 6, 2003, at 10:47:34
In reply to Movies that feature Therapy/mental illness, posted by bluedog on January 5, 2003, at 10:34:51
I know some people talked about this movie last year when it came out... I recently saw it on video, and found it a good movie as far as filmmaking goes, and acting too, but I don't know very much about the way schizophrenia affects perception, so I don't know if it's really true to life or not. The John Nash character kept seeing two or three figures who were very real to him, but no one else could see them. He seemed to get drawn into an altered state of consciousness when he saw them, and had visions of grandiosity, such as making mathematic formulae for the FBI.
The sections on his insulin-shock therapy (now a thing of the past, or so I've read), were terrible to watch. An anorexic, self-injuring friend of mine from group therapy (she'd been hospitalized 25 times) freaked out about that part, and fled the theater...
I liked the way they portrayed him later in his life, as someone who could still give instruction and be useful to students. So it gives a public who might not be aware of the effects of disabilities a view that mental disability doesn't mean unable to work or do a job. More people need to know this...best to all,
Wendy
ps: What about the classics 'The Snake Pit'? Or 'The Three Faces of Eve'? Or 'Sybil'? Didn't Patty Duke Astin do one about her memoir?
poster:wendy b.
thread:34562
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030104/msgs/34693.html