A Beautiful Mind

Biological diversity is the cornerstone of Darwin’s theories on natural selection. Mankind could not have developed without variations. Some:

• characteristics (physical and mental) increase the chance of survival are retained (via reproduction) while others that
• prove to decrease the chance of passing on genes, are allowed to be dropped away.

Diversity is not a weakness; it is an evolutionary strength.

This 2001 movie is the closest artistic rendition I have ever seen of altered or delusional perception. Our notions of what is and is not real, rests on a knife’s edge, at times.

Just a few milligrams of this or that and you’re convinced Martha Washington is your wife!

Please note: The hospital scenes are historically accurate but do not represent the modern practice of psychiatry. I have witnessed an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) session.

The “bible” for psychiatric disorders is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Currently the American Psychiatric Association published the DSM IV.

• It is used to classify largely biochemically-based disorders. Not people.

Professor Nash was diagnosed as having schizophrenia (manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction. Onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood, with approximately 0.4–0.6% of the population affected.)