Mental health illnesses in most television shows portray the character with the illness in a negative light such as a murder, or a violent member of society. A popular television series called Criminal Minds represents a multitude of mental health illnesses, especially personality disorders, in which most of the characters are murderers or suspects suffering from dissociative identity disorder or antisocial personality disorder, formally known as psychopathic disorder.
One episode titled, “All That Remains” encompasses a family whose daughters go missing the same way their mother did the previous year. The father, Bruce, is a writer and seems to be as content as possible though trying to get over the unsolved case of his missing wife ("Bruce …show more content…
However, there were a few areas that were not consistent with the episode and what is known of the disorders. One was with the dissociative identity disorder, the DSM-5 says that the symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social functioning, yet during the episode there were no areas where the patient was aware of the switch of his personalities to show the distress or impairment ("Dissociative Identity Disorder," 2013). An aspect that came off as confusing was in the beginning of the episode when the FBI was referring to Bruce’s gaps in his memory as blackouts from his alcoholism. According to the DSM-5, “the symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (eg. blackouts during alcohol intoxication) or another medical condition,” ("Dissociative Identity Disorder," 2013). A few other inconsistencies were with antisocial personality disorder, such as, disinhibition characterized by irresponsibility, impulsivity and risk taking ("General Diagnostic Criteria for a Personality Disorder," 2012). The episode represented Sera as a very obedient honors student that was interested in writing, like her father. Her room was tidy with minimal mess or decorations, and the night before she disappeared she was going to a dance at the school with a date, as her father sent her off. Her character seemed to be one that would not go off alone or get involved in risky behaviors. Another aspect that could be inconsistent for antisocial personality disorder is if the individual is at least 18 years ("General Diagnostic Criteria for a Personality Disorder," 2012). From the episode it is known that Sera is a senior in high school who could be depicted as 18 years old, but the birthdate and age are not stated. Items
One episode titled, “All That Remains” encompasses a family whose daughters go missing the same way their mother did the previous year. The father, Bruce, is a writer and seems to be as content as possible though trying to get over the unsolved case of his missing wife ("Bruce …show more content…
However, there were a few areas that were not consistent with the episode and what is known of the disorders. One was with the dissociative identity disorder, the DSM-5 says that the symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social functioning, yet during the episode there were no areas where the patient was aware of the switch of his personalities to show the distress or impairment ("Dissociative Identity Disorder," 2013). An aspect that came off as confusing was in the beginning of the episode when the FBI was referring to Bruce’s gaps in his memory as blackouts from his alcoholism. According to the DSM-5, “the symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (eg. blackouts during alcohol intoxication) or another medical condition,” ("Dissociative Identity Disorder," 2013). A few other inconsistencies were with antisocial personality disorder, such as, disinhibition characterized by irresponsibility, impulsivity and risk taking ("General Diagnostic Criteria for a Personality Disorder," 2012). The episode represented Sera as a very obedient honors student that was interested in writing, like her father. Her room was tidy with minimal mess or decorations, and the night before she disappeared she was going to a dance at the school with a date, as her father sent her off. Her character seemed to be one that would not go off alone or get involved in risky behaviors. Another aspect that could be inconsistent for antisocial personality disorder is if the individual is at least 18 years ("General Diagnostic Criteria for a Personality Disorder," 2012). From the episode it is known that Sera is a senior in high school who could be depicted as 18 years old, but the birthdate and age are not stated. Items