The item of cultural expression that I think relates great to wellness are
movies. In particular, when reading the prompt for this week’s
discussion, the movie A Beautiful Mind came to mind. If you have not
seen the movie, it is the life story of John Nash, showing the struggles
he went through. He was a brilliant mathematician who came up with
several contributions to the world of mathematics. Including game
theory, differential geometry, and others. Nash’s work has since
provided factors that govern chance and overall decision making inside
complex systems found in everyday life. While at Princeton as a
student, he first began to become severely paranoid. (Constatine) The
paranoia was eventually diagnosed as a severe case of paranoid
schizophrenia, in which he had visual and audio manifestations. The
interesting part about John Nash and the movie A Beautiful Mind, is that
he knew his mental wellness was at a low point. As a mathematician, he
could rationalize that what he was seeing and hearing was not real, and
he learned to live with it. He refused to take the medication prescribed
to him, because if effected his work. His work was a key part of his life
and wellness as well. (Constatine) Mental wellness is often second
fiddle when it comes to the accepted public definition of the term
wellness. When most people think wellness, they think exercising and
dieting. But John Nash was able to overcome an illness that most
cannot, due to his ability to separate fantasy from reality. He ended up
winning the Nobel Prize, and continued to live with his mental illness,
while also being able to contribute to the mathematics community. The
social message here is that wellness isn’t strictly about your body.
Mental wellness is just as, if not more important! The social implications
of this particular film when it comes to wellness, is that Nash refused to
take his doctors advice when it came to his medication. That could send
a dangerous message to some people that are dealing with similar
illnesses. John Nash was the exception to the rule.
Sources
Constantine, T. W. (2015, June 3). Remembering John Nash: Reflections
on a complex legacy. NYAPRS. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from
https://www.nyaprs.org/e-news-bulletins/2015/remembering-john-
nash-reflections-on-a-complex-legacy
https://www.youtube.com/wath?v=t3_d_fTK5aE
