Schizophrenia

"Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, adrenalin injections, high dose ibuprofen, steroids, Trager Mentastics, violent exercise, cafergot suppositories, caffeine, acupuncture, marijuana, Percodan, Midrine, Tenormin, Sansert, homeopathics. No results. No results... "

That isn't the list you're talking about is it? None of those drugs are for schizophrenia. Drugs for the the psychotic disorders include Stellazine, Thorazine, Seroquel, Risperdol, Zyprexa, and some newer ones that obviously wouldn't fit the timeline. By the way, no drug has ever been created exclusively for schizophrenics. We don't understand schizophrenia, which is a cluster of related illnesses, not a monolithic illness, that well.

If you want my state and license code, I'd be happy to email it to you, but my certification is Clinical Psychopathology, among other things, with Master's in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling (MRC). I cannot prescribe, but I certainly have to know about the medications.

Hope this clears up your confusion about psychotropics/neuroleptic medication.

But he'd think he was solving his problem, and that's all that matters

I think he drills a hole in his head to stop the auditory hallucinations (the voices, or annoying sounds) which is another major symptom of schizophrenia. I can't say that the whole movie is in his head...he may well be a mathematician, and his interactions with the older math prof MAY be real, but he definitely suffers from paranoid type of schizophrenia, as evidenced by the classic paranoid delusions (religious fanatics are following him, the government agency is after him, his mistrust of people in general), and delusions of grandeur (he is special because God is sending him a very important message that could somehow redeem humanity or destroy it if fallen into the wrong hands) Other symptoms of Scizophrenia that he has are what's called the negative symptoms: social withdrawal and isolation, being uncomfortable around people, flattening of affect, disinterest in the opposite sex, dysphoria. It's also interesting that his grandiose delusions are connected with his paranoid delusions in a very intricate scheme (people are following him because they want to get this very important message that God gave him) In terms of his meds, if he is taking anti-psychotics, they're obviously not working very well, or maybe he isn't taking them altogether because he gets bad side effects :-)

Gene S. MD

Max Cohen is definately schizophrenic, no doubts there. But that's not what the film is about. It's about how we waste our lives away trying to figure things out that ultimately are irrelevant. After watching the film, a friend of mine remarked, "So what? The point is we're not supposed to know the true name of God?", but he was mistaken. The point isn't that we're not supposed to know, but rather that we're not supposed to care. It's not important. Our lives here on this Earth don't last for very long and we don't have a lot of time, so let's not waste it.

*There is no spoon.*

max suffers from migraines. listen to the commentary. migraines arn't just headaches like most people claim to have. they are actually quite rare and it's a good thing because they are aparently very intense and painful to have.

tita_a,

I think you are being a bit conclusive without enough evidence. I did "look it up" as you suggested however I did not receive the results that you promised. Many of the drugs...

- "Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, adrenalin injections, high dose ibuprofen, steroids, Trager Mentastics, violent exercise, cafergot suppositories, caffeine, acupuncture, marijuana, Percodan, Midrine, Tenormin, Sansert, homeopathics."

...did indeed show that they had been used in conjunction with treatment of schizophrenia however, not all of them did.

The two that come to mind are first of all caffeine. The results I got on this were studies saying that people suffering from schizophrenia tend to consume large amounts of caffeine but no where did it say that this was a drug prescribed to schizophrenics.

Next is marijuana. This is what I found on that.

Studies link marijuana, schizophrenia:
http://bipolar.about.com/od/relateddisorders/a/schizo_pot.htm

"...concluded that the use of marijuana (cannabis) approximately doubles the risk of developing schizophrenia."

In other words the use of marijuana may CAUSE schizophrenia not cure it.

Next there is the fact that you said "ALL are drugs prescribed exclusively to schizophrenics." I don't know what you meant by this but these drugs are not prescribed EXCLUSIVELY to anyone. In fact that brings us to my next point.

ALL these drugs and therapies ARE listed as possible medications for MIGRAINES which is specifically mentioned in the movie as the cause of his episodes, look it up. Remember that part "that's when the headaches started"? In fact if you look up the references for many of the drugs listed in conjunction with schizophrenia you will see that they are used for schizophrenics suffering from other side effects such as migraines. But if you look up each and every item on that list in conjunction with migraines it is listed as a common drug or therapy prescribed for the treatment of migraines. The only thing on the list that I couldn't find anything for as far as it being a cause or treatment for anything was violent exercise. Oh and by the way, migraines have also been known to cause hallucinations.

Finally:

"Schizophrenia
Medications Used

Neuroleptics are the principle drugs used to treat schizophrenia. However, other drugs may be used for anxiety, inability to sleep, depression, cycling mood, and to counteract the main drug's unwanted effects.

There are many different neuroleptics available. Some examples include trifluoperazine (Stelazine), pimozide (Orap), flupenthixol (Fluanxol), and chlorpromazine (Largactil) for oral use, and some of these are also available for short-acting injections. Examples of long-acting (depot) injections include flupenthixol (Fluanxol), fluphenazine decanoate (Modecate), pipotiazine (Piportil L4), and haloperidol decanoate (Haldol LA)."

http://www.mentalhealth.com/book/p42-sc3.html#Head_5

In conclusion, I think that you are trying to compare this movie a little too much to A Beautiful Mind. Max Cohen may have been schizophrenic but to say so based on the evidence you have provided is very poorly based. The movie clearly points towards the view that he suffers from migraines.

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