About me: A television show is starting this fall on Showtime that has me extremely concerned about the mental health of myself and many others. It is called "The United States of Tara" and is a comedy produced by Steven Spielberg about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This disturbs me greatly, because DID is caused primarily by extreme abuse or even torture of very young children. This is not a disorder which is caused by biochemical structure of the brain. Making a comedy about it is much like saying that the end result of abusing a toddler can be funny!
I have DID, and was diagnosed a few years ago but I've lived with it all of my life and it is a crippling disorder. Episodes of switching, which can be very stressful, are frequently caused by "triggers". Triggers can be as simple as a sight, a sound, a person, or as in my own case and many others, by reading about or hearing about Dissociative Identity Disorder. A switch can be positive, or it can be negative and the negative ones can cause anguish ranging from massive headaches to acting out, violence, self-injury, or illness in the body.
I am asking for help in stopping this show. This show is going to set the perception of DID back many years, and belittle the seriousness of it. It has taken years for it to be treated in the mainstream, and we cannot afford to lose that progress. Still, there are many who don't take it seriously, and that includes people who are cruel about it, relatives, and even our doctors at times.
Please help me stand up against what is harmful to people with Dissociative Identity Disorder, as this show most certainly will be. It has already caused much pain among Dissociatives who know about it, but many are too frightened or affected by the disorder to speak out for themselves. Help me speak out for us.
Who can help?
Anyone who has been touched in any way by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and is willing to help fight this show. Please contact the ACLU and let them know that childhood rape, trauma and abuse are NOT FUNNY.
Let the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill know that you have been touched by this illness and this show is violating our rights. It's basically hate-speak. Could you make fun of any other protected class? Disabled people are a protected class in this country.
Lisa F. Smith
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