Spencer Reid grew up in Las Vegas. His father was a lawyer and his mother a housewife. Early on it became clear that Spencer has a high degree of intelligence. At 12, he graduated from high school in Las Vegas, where he was a constant victim of jokes of his classmates because of his rapid advancement. Until then, he lived without friends and very withdrawn.

He acquired his knowledge from books and from his mother. His professor of 15^th century literature sparked his interest in poetry and literature.

His father left the family early on, and it was long before Spencer was aware of what it was all about. Later, in a case of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), memories come up in him that make him suspect that his father might be a murderer and child abuser. During his investigations in this case, in which he is supported by his colleagues, it is proven, however, that his father was innocent.

Spencer's mother, Diana, is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and has been living in a mental institution for many years. At 18, Spencer saw no other way out than to let her be committed into an institution, which still affects him today.

Spencer is indeed extremely intelligent with an IQ of 187, but his social skills are, on the other hand, very limited. He studied mathematics, chemistry and engineering, and has done his Ph.D. in all three subjects. He also has degrees in psychology and sociology. He also studied medicine where he, however, has no degree. However, he is still working on obtaining a degree in philosophy.

Apart from anything else, Dr. Reid is able to read up to twenty thousand words per minute. Because of his eidetic memory, he never forgets the things he has read. This can very well happen with things he has only heard.

After his studies, he moved to the Federal Buerau of Investigation (FBI), and after he graduated from the FBI Academy in Quantico, he was hired by Jason Gideon in the BAU team. Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) is the brain of the team due to a photographic memory, and knows almost everything about famous serial killers and their crimes.

Because of his young age (at the beginning of the series Spencer Reid was only 27 years old), he is always presented by his colleagues as Dr. Reid. In this way, his colleagues want to make sure that he is an FBI profiler taken seriously by others.

In the investigative team from Criminal Minds, Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid is the expert in geographic profiles and because of his talent for language, he is also an expert in linguistics.

In a double episode of Criminal Minds, Dr. Reid is kidnapped by a serial killer with multiple personalities. He was caught by the personality of his father and his own self. As a father, he tortured the imprisoned Dr. Reid and as the son he sat among drugs to bear the torture of his father better. In this way he became addicted and at the end of the double episode, you see how Dr. Reid takes a small packet from the dead serial killer’s pocket and swallows it unnoticed.

In a later episode we see him with a syringe in a washroom, where he is being prevented to administer the content. His teammates do have the strong suspicion that Dr. Reid could be a drug addict, but he does not seek advice from them, so they will not press him further. Dr. Reid was looking for help in a support group for addicts from legal professionals, where he also met one of the directors of the FBI.

His mentor, Jason Gideon, who taught him about interpersonal things and always stood by his side with words and deed, Dr. Reid learned that he should try to get to know his colleagues at the BAU privately too. After his colleague JJ had given birth to her son Henry, she asked him if he would like to be the godfather of the young Henry, which Spencer gladly accepts.

You may find all episodes of the series Criminal Minds here.