The Movie -- A Beautiful Mind
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2002 9:53 pm
as reported on http://www.counterpunch.org/beautifulmind.html
"Claiming that the film "A Beautiful Mind" distorts the life of John Nash, a
coalition of 100 mental health advocacy groups issued a public statement today
to Universal asking for an apology and retraction.
Support Coalition International cites a guest commentary in USA Today (3/4/02)
by author Robert Whitaker. Whitaker claims Nash refused psychiatric drugs, and
this may have aided his recovery.
The film has Nash saying he was taking "newer medications" at the time of his
Nobel Prize. Nash says that's pure fiction.
Nash has also been quoted recently as wondering if the fact that one
screenwriter's mother is a psychiatrist had anything to do with this
distortion.
Whether or not people can recover following a diagnosis of "schizophrenia"
without taking psychiatric drugs is a major controversy in the mental health
field. Support Coalition International says that Universal (along with Imagine
and DreamWorks) apparently caved to pressure, and distorted Nash's life so as
not to overly disrespect psychiatric drugs.
Psychologist Barry Duncan, PhD author of the book The Heroic Client, says the
film can actually harm people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, and the
public. Says Dr. Duncan, "By all accounts, Nash took no antipsychotic
medication after 1970. The 'right message' crafted in the film and promulgated
in reviews and echoed by 'experts' do those suffering and the public a great
disservice."
"Claiming that the film "A Beautiful Mind" distorts the life of John Nash, a
coalition of 100 mental health advocacy groups issued a public statement today
to Universal asking for an apology and retraction.
Support Coalition International cites a guest commentary in USA Today (3/4/02)
by author Robert Whitaker. Whitaker claims Nash refused psychiatric drugs, and
this may have aided his recovery.
The film has Nash saying he was taking "newer medications" at the time of his
Nobel Prize. Nash says that's pure fiction.
Nash has also been quoted recently as wondering if the fact that one
screenwriter's mother is a psychiatrist had anything to do with this
distortion.
Whether or not people can recover following a diagnosis of "schizophrenia"
without taking psychiatric drugs is a major controversy in the mental health
field. Support Coalition International says that Universal (along with Imagine
and DreamWorks) apparently caved to pressure, and distorted Nash's life so as
not to overly disrespect psychiatric drugs.
Psychologist Barry Duncan, PhD author of the book The Heroic Client, says the
film can actually harm people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, and the
public. Says Dr. Duncan, "By all accounts, Nash took no antipsychotic
medication after 1970. The 'right message' crafted in the film and promulgated
in reviews and echoed by 'experts' do those suffering and the public a great
disservice."