SVU tackles mental health perfectly

When viewers think about police procedurals: Chicago Police Department and Law and order, mental health is not the first thing they think about. Although the show has changed over time, many police procedurals focus on showcasing and elevating police officers who struggle to deal with mental health issues in the real world. This season, Dick Wolf’s two-man police procedural appears to be trying to change the conversation.

Dick Wolf’s procedural shows are used to pivoting the conversation around difficult topics. Law and Order: SVUFor example, it has had a major impact on cultural conversations about sexual assault, sexual violence, and child abuse.now Law and Order: SVU and Chicago Police Department They are taking on that role and trying to tap into the cultural zeitgeist to spark conversations about how police departments address mental health, both within their ranks and in the civilian population.

Chicago Police Department Brings Upton to the Brink

• Season 11 will be the sixth and final season. Chicago Police Department Tracy Spiridakos plays Hailey Upton.

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At the premiere of Chicago Police Department, Season 11, Episode 1 “Unpacking” Detective Hayley Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) tails the crisis headquarters that day. Their first call was about a man having a mental health crisis while attempting to enter a locked building. Although he was told to stay away, Upton acted on his instincts and decided at that moment that the man was dangerous and eventually tried to handcuff him, but the man’s resistance caused him to fall through the glass door. While the man is in custody, Upton discovers two people in an apartment in the building the man was trying to enter. One of them is dead and the other is injured.

Ms. Upton’s intuition told her that a man in a mental crisis was responsible for the two murders and attempted murders, but her intuition was wrong. This episode explores whether people facing a mental health crisis are actually dangerous, and how complex it is to understand what a person facing a mental health crisis needs. It showed the nuances of trying to understand. What Upton learned is that for anyone, especially police, to respond appropriately to someone facing a mental health crisis, they must be patient and carefully assess before taking action. . Upton’s mental health takes a hit when he realizes he misunderstood the situation, but Upton isn’t the only member of the intelligence team to deal with mental health issues in season 11.

Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) begins Season 11 still awaiting his return to the police force, having recovered from the gunshot wound he sustained in Season 10, Episode 22, “A Better Place,” and viewers addressed his mental health in both “Unpacking”, which sees the toll this has taken, and “Retread”, episode 2 of season 11, which focuses on Ruzek. Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) has also been affected by Ruzek’s delayed return to his CPD, which is seen in “Retread” and Season 11 Episode 3, “Safe Harbor”, but in “Safe Harbor” By the end Burgess and Ruzek realize that it is their relationship that ultimately grounds them both.meanwhile Chicago Police Department Previous seasons have also touched on mental health, with the season 11 opener centering on CPD’s response to civilians dealing with mental health crises, with each member of the team struggling with their own issues. Its inclusion is an important step in furthering the conversation about mental health and wellness. Advancing the criminal justice system.

Law and Order: SVU Considers EMDR

• Law and Order: SVU is currently in its 25th season. It is the longest-running primetime television drama of all time, and Olivia Benson is the longest-running primetime live-action television drama character of all time.

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Law and Order: SVU I have never shied away from the idea that police officers need mental health support. Early seasons included rhetoric that police officers who needed psychological support were weak or unfit, but over the past 25 seasons, the show’s own rhetoric has changed. In Season 21, Episode 12, “The Longest Night of Rain,” Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) calls Dr. Peter Lindstrom (Bill Bill) to speak to her squad after a police officer commits suicide outside a retirement party. Irwin). A major element of this episode is that too many police officers die by suicide, and when Benson introduces her squad to Dr. Lindstrom, she makes sure to tell the room, “This is the stigma.” I know that, but thank God the department’s policy is that asking for help is no longer a sign of weakness.”

Throughout the first four episodes of season 25, viewers watched Olivia Benson struggle to kidnap a teenage girl, Maddie, who Benson discovered in the passenger seat of her captor’s van. Benson and her team still don’t know that Maddie was kidnapped, but Olivia continues to blame herself for not knowing Maddie was kidnapped just by looking at her. Missing children are always on Olivia’s mind, but this particular case has had a significant and alarming impact on her mental health. At the end of Season 25, Episode 3, “The Punch List”, Benson undergoes EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy for the first time. This therapy uses specific eye movements to help patients process traumatic memories differently, and Season 25, Episode 4, “Required to Report,” introduces the EMDR process itself, while also introducing the EMDR process itself. , shows Olivia’s desire to solve some of the problems she’s been dealing with for years. .

Olivia Benson is no stranger to difficult or protracted cases. In Season 20, Episode 14, “Part 33,” Benson revealed to Rollins that in Season 15 she was still dealing with the trauma of being kidnapped twice by the same man, William Lewis. . It’s not uncommon for trauma to persist, while Olivia, who has been in therapy since first running away from Luis, admits to her EMDR therapist that talk therapy doesn’t seem to be helping and that she sometimes remains clingy. Ta. Seeing both Benson’s previous work in talk therapy and his new approach to EMDR will be valuable to the conversation about mental health, not only for police officers but also for the general public. Every time someone talks about mental health on TV or in a movie, or is shown receiving mental health care, the remaining stigma gradually fades away. Olivia Benson’s journey over the past 25 seasons has often inspired others to deal with their experiences of sexual assault or deal with their own mental health issues. There’s no reason her foray into EMDR can’t do the same.

Mental health remains a big issue for police

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Police procedurals aren’t perfect. In fact, they are far from it. Promoting police as inherently good or inherently bad is an oversimplification and can be dangerous. Given the complexity of the U.S. criminal justice system, the history of racism in the police force, and the discrimination against people with mental health issues from police and the public, it is important that police procedures address all issues. It can get complicated. Nuance.That’s why Law & Order: SVU and Chicago Police Department The focus will be on tackling issues faced by real-world police departments.

Appearing on February 8, 2024 tonight show, Mariska Hargitay discussed Olivia Benson’s healing arc and how much of a role it will play in SVU’s 25th season. This shift in SVU’s overall story is priceless. The more shows that have cultural gravity, the more Law and Order: SVU and Chicago Police Department, or any of Dick Wolf’s other shows, would talk about topics like mental health and the stigma would disappear faster. What will be most valuable in the coming weeks is that both shows will not only be about the mental health of police officers, but the police who appear on these shows, regardless of what kind of mental health crisis they are facing. It is also a matter of how we will continue to work on how the government communicates with civilians. What you’re experiencing or how dangerous it seems.

Chicago Police Department

Follow the Chicago Police Department’s 21st Precinct, which is made up of two distinct groups: uniformed officers and intelligence units.

release date

January 8, 2014

creator

dick wald and matt olmsted

cast

Jason Beghe, Marina Squerciati, LaRoyce Hawkins, Patrick Pflueger, Tracy Spiridakos, Benjamin Levi Aguilar

season

11