Psycological Review of the Soloist Essay

Nathaniel Ayers, a 54 year old schizophrenic man who lives on the street of Los Angeles, uses music to fill in the void of his life. Growing up, Nathaniel learned how to isolate himself from the violent environment he was exposed to; music was his way out. His time and dedication to music eventually paid off as he was able to get to Juilliard, one of the world’s best art schools. Unfortunately, he eventually dropped out after his second year as he had a mental breakdown and was later diagnosed with Schizophrenia. For a short time, Nathaniel went home to his sister, but later ran away after his illness affected their relationship; he thought his sister was going to poison him. Since then he moved from shelter to shelter and eventually end up

Most of Ayer’s schizophrenic symptoms were actually quite typical for this disorder. Ayer’s experiences auditory hallucinations, disorganized speech, a blunted affect and negative symptoms such as social withdrawal and anhedonia, all of which are clearly present for greater than six months. In Nathaniel 's introductory scene there is already some evidence his schizophrenia. When asked by Steve if he likes Stevie Wonder (which is written on his visor and shirt), Nathaniel begins to express tangential thoughts with rapid speech

The book “The Soloist” is about L.A. Times writer Steve Lopez discovering a musically gifted homeless man named Nathaniel Ayers. Desperately needing to catch a deadline Mr. Lopez considers writing a story about Nathaniel. While researching Mr. Lopez begins to discover interesting things about the talented musician. Nathanial Ayers was accepted to The Julliard’s School of music, the most prestige school for music in North America. After one year at Julliard Nathanial dropped out, it turns out that Nathanial had a case of Paranoid Schizophrenia that forced him into a spiral of madness, which soon caused him to become homeless and lose a chance at becoming one of the greatest musicians. Before reading this book I did have some knowledge about

There are many reasons for this medical dilemma, not the least of these, the disease process itself. Even in the most severe episode the schizophrenic patient doesn’t truly understand their need for treatment or their illness because 97% of schizophrenia patients suffer from extreme lack of insight. This symptom, in and of

More than just voices Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that encompasses many symptoms other than the most well known “voices in your head”. The symptoms affects your behavior, Cognitive functions, mood and of course your psyche. In the infamous play Hamlet by William Shakespeare ,the main protagonist, prince Hamlet exudes many symptoms that reflect schizophrenic behavior. The author of The Eden express: a memoir of insanity by Mark Vonnegut, he tells his own personal story of having schizophrenia.

The purpose of this paper is to breakdown Lennie's mental illness and find the most reasonable conclusion of to what he has. This question is important because the book never actually states what Lennie suffers from and is a real problem throughout the world. If people were more able to understand and notice the symptoms of schizophrenia it could help many of the people who are unaware of having schizophrenia or a mental illness and help them get the help they need. Roughly thirty million people suffer from schizophrenia worldwide. Most people who suffer from schizophrenia do not receive the medical help that need or require. Schizophrenia is overlooked and isn't taken with the approach it should, it has similar care to alzheimer's, everyone seems to know about it but nothing is really being done to stop or help treat this.

A Battle Against Himself CONNECTICUT - Ken Steele has heard voices most of his life. He was 14 years old when he started having auditory hallucinations. These voices commanded him to hurt himself and they were predicting his death. "Hang yourself," the voices told him. "The world will be better off. You 're no good, no good at all." The voices got louder and louder everyday and he was no longer in control of his life. They were. Ken’s behavior unexpectedly changed and Ken’s parents grew worried. No one was aware of what has happening. They took him to the family doctor, who announced that Ken had schizophrenia. Ken Steele at the age of 14 Subsequently,

Know I am going to compare what I believe the process of the schizophrenia with John Nash is during the process of this movie. A Beautiful Mind is an inspiring story about triumph over schizophrenia, among the most devastating and disabling of all mental disorders. A Beautiful Mind succeeds in realistically describing the disturbed thinking, emotion, perception, and behavior

Jazz is the kind of music that makes me want to do one of two things. Depending on the mood of the jazz, sometimes I feel like relaxing and just listening to the music and letting it run through me. Other times I feel like getting up and dancing as if I have not a care in the world. The jazz concert I attended on at SLO Brewing Company on October 6, 2001 inspired me to do both of these due to the variety used by the musicians in dynamic, rhythm, tempo, and many other aspects of music.

Jeffery S. Nevid is an accredited author, professor, director of psychology programs, editor, research conductor, and all around highly educated man who has dedicated most of his life to researching the different psychological aspects of daily life. He stated that; people who develop schizophrenia become increasingly disengaged from society. They fail to function in the expected roles of student, worker, or spouse, and their families and communities grow intolerant of their deviant behavior. Acute episodes of schizophrenia are characterized by delusions, hallucination, illogical thinking, incoherent speech and bizarre behavior. (Nevid 391)

“...Those who are afflicted act bizarrely, say strange things, withdraw from us, and may even try to hurt us. They are no longer the same person-they are mad! We don’t understand why they say and do what they do. We don’t understand the disease process. Rather than a steadily growing tumor, which we can understand, it is as if the person has lost control of his/her brain. How can we sympathize with a person who is possessed by unknown and unforeseen forces? How can we sympathize with a madman or a madwoman?” (Tartavosky) This quote was taken from the book Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers written by E. Fuller Torrey. The words of this quote are meaningful because the author does a good job of explaining just how mysterious Schizophrenia is. This mental illness can turn a normal person into a madman due to the loss of control of their own mind. The scary thing is, researchers are not sure exactly what causes it. Only about 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia, yet more people are institutionalized by this disease than any other mental disorder. (Griggs) This paper will outline the causes, treatments, and case studies of schizophrenia.

Just like in reality, this movie does not identify any causal factors associated with schizophrenia, but its treatment and management are portrayed to work effectively with antipsychotic/ psychotropic medications and Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that makes the affected individual “to understand and appreciate his condition” (A beautiful Mind). Several inaccurate characterizations of schizophrenia in this movie relates to the fact that this condition does not affect males only but also females are affected, and apart from the positive symptoms of schizophrenia that are highlighted, the patient may also exhibit negative symptoms. It is also not advisable to keep or incarcerate the affected individuals in the hospital since the condition can easily be managed at home with adequate contribution of the family members (A beautiful Mind).

One’s taste in music is at the top of the list when it comes to topics that can cause a heater argument. Musical preferences are sacred to most people and we tend to divide into small tribes over music, considering the other tribes as less sophisticated. Interestingly, your music choices are not a random grouping – your tribe isn’t determined by where your friends go. Instead, your personality and the music you like are interlinked, both influencing each other.

characters are in engaged in a dialogue which is common for a mother and a daughter to

Usually, when one considers what they can do to fight off a cold, relieve pain, or alleviate mental illness, the first things that comes to mind may be to take over-the-counter drugs or prescribed medications. However, the cure to these and many other infirmities may be found within your own ipod. Music, in its many forms, can and should be used as a healing instrument. While it may not completely alleviate the need for drugs, it's possible that music therapy could accompany medical drug use in order to lessen the amount of potentially harmful medications often consumed by patients.