Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of unusual perceptions, odd thoughts, disturbed emotions, and motor abnormalities. People with schizophrenia experience psychosis, a loss of contract with reality. “Their ability to perceive and respond to the environment becomes so disturbed that they may not be able to function at home with friends, in school, or at work” (Comer, 2015). According to the DSM, the criteria for schizophrenia are as follows: having at least two of the symptoms of the disorder—hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, very abnormal motor activity, including catatonia, negative symptoms for one month. At least one of the individual’s symptoms must be delusions, …show more content…
She exhibits paranoid delusions that Lily is out to harm her and steal the lead role, especially after the announcement from Leroy stating that Lily was going to be the alternate for Nina. As the movie progresses, especially towards the end, Nina slowly develops webbed feet, feathers, and eventually turns into the swan. Her sweet, innocent personality and characteristics deteriorate as she now enhances her darker side in order to satisfy both her internal and external roles and expectations. Visual and tactile hallucinations are also promulgated in this captivating cinematography. For example, Nina scratches the skin on her shoulders, and subsequently, this reveals black feathers. These events bespeak her paramnesia that the feathers were existent (visual hallucination) and were itching her skin (tactile hallucination). Researchers today have founded a link between schizophrenia and creativity. “A study of the medical records of 150,000 individuals has found that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are more likely than the general public to be creative professionals such as actors, dancers, musicians, visual artists or writers” (Connor,