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FAQ's for the Public and Professionals
Media Links
Commentary on Each Week's Episode of Tara
Q&A with Richard P. Kluft, M.D.
How you can help!
In January of 2009, Showtime Networks Inc., a CBS Company,
launched a new television series - the United
States of Tara. Toni Colette, an Oscar nominatee,
plays Tara, a woman who suffers from Dissociative Identity
Disorder (DID).
The show portrays the ongoing encounter
between Tara, a wife and mother with DID, and her
caring family. As with other humorous portrayals of psychiatric
illness in film (As Good As It Gets with
Jack Nicholson playing a person with obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and Monk with Tony Shaloub also playing
an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder), we
are aware that this show will produce varied reactions
from the public, mental health professionals, and the
DID community. |
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United States of Tara is the first television series
ever produced with Dissociative Identity Disorder as its focus. Given
this, ISSTD is presented with a unique opportunity to provide
education to the public about a misunderstood psychiatric illness. Our
mission as an organization is to provide education regarding
the dissociative disorders and to promote the effective treatment
of clients with these disorders. In response to the United
States of Tara, ISSTD will be providing answers to questions
about DID, as well as a professional commentary regarding each
episode of the show based on our research and clinical experience.
In their development of the series, the producers and script
writers of United States of Tara have consulted
extensively with experts in the dissociative disorders field. We
hope that the show, along with our educational efforts, will
ultimately facilitate understanding of DID and the struggles
and challenges that individuals with DID face in their daily
lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
For students and the public:
Frequently asked questions about DID can be found by clicking
here.
More information about dissociation,
dissociative disorders, and trauma can be found on the ISSTD
FAQ pages.
For professionals:
ISSTD maintains an active website with resources for professional
members and non-members. Take a look at our Education
pages.
Let us know what you hoped to find but didn't! Our aim is to
provide the most cogent and reliable information on trauma
and dissociation for both professionals and the public.
Q & A with Richard P. Kluft, M.D.
A video of Richard Kluft, M.D., past president of ISSTD, one
of the world's most prominent experts on DID, is featured
on Showtime's website. In the video, produced by Showtime, and
shown below, he explains DID (see
the community section of Showtime's website).
If the video below will not start, or from outside the U.S.,
click here.
You
Can Help!
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a serious mental health
condition which affects many people around the world. Since
1984, ISSTD has worked tirelessly to educate both professionals
and the general public about DID. A non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization,
ISSTD promotes comprehensive, clinically-effective and empirically-based
resources and responses to trauma and dissociation. Please
make a donation to help ISSTD continue its efforts to educate
therapists and help patients with DID.
Further Media Links & Information
- A Wikipedia entry
that describes some reactions to the pilot episode of the
United States of Tara.
- Connect here to find comments by
laypersons in a movie portal (plus comments by a few DID
patients pointing to the painful side of DID).
- Reviews can be found at New
York Times, and the San
Francisco Chronicle, on line.
For Comments
Comments from the public are accepted and posted
on Showtime's United
States of Tara website.
Thank You!
The International Society
for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is grateful to
Showtime, Inc., Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, screenwriter
Diablo Cody, actress Toni Collette, and the supporting cast
and producers of The
United States of Tara for their portrayal of the
complicated, confusing, and sometimes desperate life lived
below the visible surface of an everyday person with dissociative
identity disorder. As Richard P. Kluft, M.D. noted in the special
educational video produced by Showtime on their website (and
available on this website, above), only a small percentage
of people with dissociative identity disorder have the classical
presentation of obvious switching from one personality state
to another. Most people with this disorder go to work, raise
families, and struggle to live their lives while healing from
the painful emotional wounds of their earlier years. Too often,
public discussion of dissociation and dissociative disorders
is sensationalized. This is a public Thank You to Showtime,
and all involved, for increasing interest about an important
psychological disorder. We hope this increased interest results
in improved treatments, and better lives for our patients,
their families, and our communities!
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The
views of Showtime Inc. and
the production team of the United States of Tara,
are their own and do not necessarily reflect
the views of ISSTD or its members. The ISSTD
website provides accurate, current scientific information
about Dissociative Identity Disorder. |
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