I have done case studies for numerous years but I found the case of John Nash the most intriguing. John Nash was mildly arrogant, charming, and an extremely gifted mathematician. He would scribble mathematical formulas and discoveries on windows in his dorm room, and overall he had impeccable intelligence. He developed a groundbreaking economic theory, to his impressive rise to the cover of Forbes magazine and an MIT professorship, and on through to his eventual dismissal due to schizophrenic delusions.
Nash's history:
Nash could have had paranoid schizophrenia for years but no one noticed it. It is evident that delusions occur in the mind of a schizophrenic. Perhaps the first indication of Nash's delusions was when he was observing a glass in the courtyard and noticed a spectrum of light stream out of it. The colours in the light streamed out onto his friend's tie, and he imagined the tie with an assortment of shapes on it, which didn't exist in reality.
English: John Forbes Nash Jr. (born June 13, 1928)...
Nash Metropolitan
Nash's House / New Place - Stratford Upon Avon"That is an awful tie," Nash remarked. Nash first started his delusions when he imagined Charles, his imaginary roommate. He would talk and carry on conversations with this man, and even his wife thought he really existed until with further research, I proved otherwise.
In part because she was so upset about Nash, his wife Alicia had a growing concern for him. During Nash's marriage, he would get phone calls from the Pentagon asking him for help to solve mathematical problems. As Nash was approaching the Pentagon, he imagined William Parcher, an FBI agent, who told him that he was needed to decode messages. Nash imagined that a numerical device was implanted into his arm so they knew he was the right person breaking these codes. Nash had a study room where he would cut out newspaper...