Although every day we come across news articles about the latest breakthrough on Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, I took an interest in another type of mental disorder – Schizophrenia. It caught my attention when I was first introduced to this serious disorder when I was a student. It was first discovered in1887 by Dr Emile Kraepelin and it was believed that it could have affected Human Beings since early civilizations. Through years of studies, data showed that it is, unlike dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, influenced by many factors: environment, age (affects young adults), genetics and biochemical reactions. However the exact cause is still unknown. Hence drugs developed merely aim to relief patients of the symptoms. There is no cure for Schizophrenia.
Early drugs (known as typical antipsychotics) come with side effects. Newer drugs, like are coming into market. Despite years of research to find the cause of Schizophrena and search for a better treatment,
recently it seems like there are some that are slowly giving up, as mentioned in an article. I still believe that there could be a breakthrough someday..
Despite the tremendous sufferings that patients have to endure, they are on the whole like you and I. Some are even gifted individuals. One example is the Nobel Laureate in Economics, Dr. John Forbes Nash Jr.. His life inspired Sylvia Nasar to write a biography which was made into an Academy-award-winning movie by Director, Ron Howard.
Schizophrenia in the movies
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Written by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Ron Howard, the movie starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer and Paul Bettany.
Based on the life of Nobel Laureate in Economics – John Forbes Nash Jr, the movie follows the life of Jon Nash from a childhood to adulthood. I personally feel that it lets the audience to feel what was going through the mind of the lead character as though they are the lead character – the auditory hallucinations, delusions etc. However one has to remember that this is a movie, not a documentary. Hence some of the events in the film may differ from actual events.
The Soloist (2005)
Written by Susannah Grant, directed by Joe Wright and starring : Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
This is another movie inspired by true story of gifted bassist, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. He was suffering from Schizophrenia when Steve Lopez, a columnist, met him. Nathaniel was then a homeless person who enjoyed playing the cello on the streets. Wanting to help him, Steve wrote about Nathaniel in his column and managed to attract the attention of some good readers to help Nathaniel.
The plot was good as it tried to illustrate the lives of the homeless and people suffering from such mental disorder, how they try to cope with the disorder. However the movie failed to touch the hearts of audiences.
[1] “ Schizophrenia: The Drug Deadlock” Nature 468, 158-159 (2010) | doi:10.1038/468158a
http://www.schizophrenia.com/history.htm (2Feb2011)
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