Dissociative Identity Disorder And The Media - 1878 Words

This paper discusses Dissociative Identity Disorder and the relevance and portrayal of this mental illness in the American television show, United States of Tara. Tara’s family deals with her mental illness in different ways, which is evaluated in this paper. Also discussed in detail are the characters in the show. Tara has seven separate alters; each has their own personality and characteristics. They all have a role to play in Tara’s mental illness. Additionally, each alter is useful during specific stressful situations, which is analyzed in this paper. The characteristics of Dissociative Identity Disorder are discussed, according to the findings in Comer’s 2008 publication of Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. Later, these findings are compared to the show and its portrayal of this Dissociative Identity Disorder. DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER’S ROLE IN THE MEDIA Dissociative Identity Disorder’s Role in the Media: United States of Tara Mental illness is more common than our society leads us to believe. This is mostly due to the fact that there remains a societal stigma against mental illness, which makes it difficult to be discussed, or understood in depth. However, there are people that are at the forefront of breaking these stigmas; a lot of whom reside in Hollywood. One show that attempted to showcase mental illness and family dynamics is United States of Tara. This show ran for about 3 years and had 3 seasons before it was cancelled. United States ofShow MoreRelatedDissociative Identity Disorder And Media Depictions3153 Words   |  13 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder and Media Depictions We live in a world where the entertainment industry is thriving. 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