MPD or DID with Law & Order SVU

Last night's episode of Law & Order SVU had a storyline based around Dissociative Identity Disorder previously know as Multiple Personality Disorder. I knew ahead of time that DID was the basis for this week's show so I had it set in my memory to be sure and watch.

Because the show is set up around the Special Victims Unit of a police department, I have followed it from its inception. I was interested in seeing who they portrayed victims not to mention how the writers had the police officers deal with them.

During most of my life, no one has really cared much about the victims of sexual assaults. The new trend towards acknowledging victims and making adjustments in the way they are treated within the system has a long way to go in my book. However, I do think that this television show has worked hard to give a true picture and maybe educate the masses. The only way change will come is for people to understand what the issues are.

I have lots of trepidation about storylines utilizing the DID diagnosis. They are usually sensationalistic and that's about it. I think that people can get caught up in the "mystic" of the diagnosis and totally forget there is a real person at the bottom of it.

So it was with great interest that I sat down to watch last night's episode of SVU. While I knew going into it about the use of DID, I didn't say anything to my husband or my daughter. It was interesting to note that my daughter figured it out before the police on the show had a diagnosis.

I think the writers did a good job of showing the different officers reaction to what appeared to be a very troubled individual. It's one thing I like about the show, the cops aren't all compassionate or understanding even considering the unit in which they serve. There's a good mix of all different matter of human reactions to the criminal element and to victims. I think the public is more likely to learn by looking at a scenario as realistic as possible than one altered to be more palatable.

I think there were some holes in the premise. Right from the start I knew that something was amiss. There were inconsistencies with individual alters. I would suppose if the writers didn't really understand the disorder, they might lose track of things. Still, the detectives missed opportunities to figure out what was happening or it was holes by the writers and no one had a clue. I

I thought the actress who played the individual did a great job of portraying the different personalities. Had the character truly had the disorder, it would have been a believable performance. However, they copped out to the "she made it up to get away with murder" scenario.

Personally I think it would have been far more interesting to have the diagnosis be real. There are so many angles to consider when deciding the legal culpability of someone with DID. The times when an individual with the diagnosis have been tried for criminal activities, the arguments and the outcomes have been as varied as the systems of the multiples themselves.

So the bottom line for me is I think that SVU missed out on a great opportunity to educate the public about this complex issue. With even the professionals still out on whether DID is a valid diagnosis or something trumped up by unscrupulous professionals, it could have been helpful to have a character who actually had the disorder.

That character didn't necessarily have to be a perpetrator either. There could be lots of drama around a case with a multiple as its star witness. Such a scenario could have enlightened people as to the problems many multiples and their families face in their daily lives as well as educated people about the disorder itself. I guess that's too much to expect a tv show to do.....be responsible.

multiple personality disorder MPD dissociative Identity disorder did SVU