TV Show Psych tackles topic of Dissociative Identity Disorder
20 views
Skip to first unread message
Patrick Yovino
Jul 24, 2011, 7:55:06 PM7/24/11
to PSY254-2011
Last week I watched a rerun of the TV show Psych which featured a case
involving a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Shawn, the main
character and fake psychic, and his friend and sidekick, Gus, take on
a client named Robert who believes he is being haunted by a spirit and
that days pass without him remembering what he has done. Shawn
believes the client is “crazy” (schizophrenic) and that he is really
having hallucinations. While it is possible for hallucinations to have
environmental causes, Robert claims that even though he moved across
the country, the spirit followed him, ruling out this possibility. It
is interesting to note that Robert is an artist, and we have noted
that artists show more tendencies for psychiatric disorders than other
people.
Upon spending a night in Robert’s house, they discover that their
client is, in fact, haunting himself. Robert meets all of the DSM IV
criteria for dissociative Identity Disorder. Robert has two other
personalities, one, a woman named Regina, and the other, a man named
Martin Brody. When the female personality is control, Robert doesn’t
remember what happens during that time. Regina, does not want to
continue being a woman stuck in a man’s body so she goes to see a
doctor for gender reassignment. The aggressive male personality,
Martin, becomes enraged at the possible loss of his manhood and kills
the doctor. The ethical question of responsibility in crime when
involving a person with dissociative identity disorder is discussed in
our book.
In the section about the insanity defense, it says that this topic
about what happens when one personality commits a crime is quite
controversial with psychologist, legal professionals, and even with
juries. In the past the plea has failed, but there continues to be
questions on responsibility and shared responsibility. At the end of
this episode, Robert was admitted to a mental health hospital. Which
would indicated he was either found not guilty during a trial with a
NGRI plea, or he was not charged by the DA because of a pre-trial
psychiatric evaluation.
- Patrick Yovino
involving a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Shawn, the main
character and fake psychic, and his friend and sidekick, Gus, take on
a client named Robert who believes he is being haunted by a spirit and
that days pass without him remembering what he has done. Shawn
believes the client is “crazy” (schizophrenic) and that he is really
having hallucinations. While it is possible for hallucinations to have
environmental causes, Robert claims that even though he moved across
the country, the spirit followed him, ruling out this possibility. It
is interesting to note that Robert is an artist, and we have noted
that artists show more tendencies for psychiatric disorders than other
people.
Upon spending a night in Robert’s house, they discover that their
client is, in fact, haunting himself. Robert meets all of the DSM IV
criteria for dissociative Identity Disorder. Robert has two other
personalities, one, a woman named Regina, and the other, a man named
Martin Brody. When the female personality is control, Robert doesn’t
remember what happens during that time. Regina, does not want to
continue being a woman stuck in a man’s body so she goes to see a
doctor for gender reassignment. The aggressive male personality,
Martin, becomes enraged at the possible loss of his manhood and kills
the doctor. The ethical question of responsibility in crime when
involving a person with dissociative identity disorder is discussed in
our book.
In the section about the insanity defense, it says that this topic
about what happens when one personality commits a crime is quite
controversial with psychologist, legal professionals, and even with
juries. In the past the plea has failed, but there continues to be
questions on responsibility and shared responsibility. At the end of
this episode, Robert was admitted to a mental health hospital. Which
would indicated he was either found not guilty during a trial with a
NGRI plea, or he was not charged by the DA because of a pre-trial
psychiatric evaluation.
- Patrick Yovino
Alli Smith
Jul 24, 2011, 7:59:12 PM7/24/11
to psy25...@googlegroups.com
Very interesting! If you thought this episode was interesting, check out the movie Primal Fear... lots of legal issues around the DID diagnosis (which they call Multiple Personality Disorder since it was back in 1996)... There was also a great episode of Law & Order SVU, guest starring Cynthia Nixon - aka Miranda from Sex and the City - as a woman with DID (I think they too called it MPD, not DID though).
--
Allison M. Smith, M. A.
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate
University of Rhode Island
*cura personalis*
Allison M. Smith, M. A.
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate
University of Rhode Island
*cura personalis*
Alli Smith
Jul 24, 2011, 8:08:40 PM7/24/11
to psy25...@googlegroups.com
The Psych episode is "Who Ya Gonna Call" - Season 1, Episode 7....
Those of you with Netflix or Hulu Plus can stream either of these.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages