I hardly ever watch Criminal Minds anymore because it’s so triggering but in a bored stupor I turned it on tonight. I got to the last 20 min of the show and realized it had to do with DID. I guess there were clues. The unsub talked about horrible headaches. When asked about the murders he said he only partly remembered the attack. The way the unsub answered that question is how I’ve answered many questions, “I sort of remember but not really.” There were many subtle clues that most DID’s could pick up if they were looking for them. I wasn’t looking for them. Only after I turned it off did these clues stand out for me.
Although tonight’s show was turned off before it finished I’ll give the producers this much: they didn’t show the most extreme forms of child abuse as the cause of his DID. I think this could be helpful to multiple’s who think their abuse doesn’t stack up to the abuse of others. This child who developed different personalities wasn’t a victim of Satanic Ritual Abuse, the sex trade or victim of an extreme for of Christianity. No, he was a kid beaten at a critical time in his development, period. That is all it takes to change a child’s life. I think they did well to not make his story dramatic.
I know many multiples believe their abuse wasn’t “bad enough” to cause such an extreme reaction as splitting. They’ve heard the stories of other survivors and think unlike so-in-so their story isn’t as bad because they were “only” beaten or “only” sexually abuse. If tonight’s episode accurately depicted anything at all its that when left unchecked two fists and a child’s mind is enough to do a life time of damage. I think CBS did well in showing this.
That’s all I have to say about tonight’s show. Here’s the entry for the other time Criminal Minds had a murderous character with Multiple Personality Disorder / Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Austin’s August
Criminal Minds and Multiple Personality Disorder – Wednesday, April 08, 2009 – 10:10PM EST
In response to blogger: WatchingCriminalMinds.com
The show the other night I felt served the purpose you quoted me as saying above but not much else.
One would do well to remember this is a TV show that’s not about mental health lessons. If viewed as fiction based on partial truth then the show can be enjoyed as purposed but if we make the mistake of thinking Hollywood will give us truth then we set ourselves up to receive and then act upon false information.
CM is about catching serial killers so of course the unsub is going to be a killer. They have to make it interesting so they choose disorders and scenarios to not only freak out the viewers but peek their interest in future shows. CM does this well.
As long as this show (CSI, The Eleventh Hour and others) are viewed as mainly entertainment then the viewer is probably okay. But once the show becomes more than that then we have a bit of an issue.
I think Criminal Minds got enough of “Conflicted” right to confuse the average viewer who depends upon Hollywood to get to right.
My only suggestion is to consider the source. When has Hollywood ever been a reliable source of information?
F. Magdalene Austin
The People Behind My Eyes
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