John forbes nash jr schizophrenia medication

The saga of Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr., whose 30-year battle with schizophrenia is the subject of the movie "A Beautiful Mind" (and of Sylvia Nasar's far more accurate biography of the same name), illustrates some of the factors psychiatric researchers and ex-patients say foster recovery.

"What the movie communicated is that recovery is possible, and in Nash's case the main elements we know to be effective were there," observed psychologist Xavier Amador, deputy executive director of research at the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, an advocacy group.

These factors, which include medical and social support, decent housing and encouragement, do not guarantee improvement, nor does their absence make recovery impossible.

They include:

Age and onset. Studies have found that people who are older and whose symptoms appear suddenly do better. According to psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey, 75 percent of people diagnosed with schizophrenia are 17 t