Forensic Psychology Weaponizes Mental Health in Johnny Depp Amber Heard Trial

I'm not sure that Amber's mental issues would have been brought in at all except that she claimed PTSD, so she needed to prove the diagnosis. That's why the court ordered an exam; she wanted to use PTSD as ammunition. If she hadn't tried to do that, there wouldn't have been anything ordered. Noticeably, Johnny's team did not argue how much her diagnoses can prompt the exact actions she did. They simply used it to refute her claims.

This is a very important message. Thank you nurse Liz ❤

I will agree with you on BPD but respectfully disagree on narcissism because of my experience. Also we have forensic Psychology for certain criminals like serial killers.

Hey nurse Liz!

I’m curious about your opinion regarding Forensic psychology being applied to criminal cases. I feel like it was not necessary to use forensic psychology in civil suit, however; forensic psychology is necessary when it comes to competency in criminal trial. What do you think about forensic psychology when it comes to criminality?

Thanks!

Hi. Agree with your overall point, but can I just clear up that you're using both forensic psychology and forensic psychiatry interchangeably and they are not the same or interchangeable. Neither of the doctors in this trial are psychiatrists. Just an FYI.

As a daughter of someone who is a recovering addict, and friends with people who have BPD, I thoroughly enjoyed and agree watching this. Yes, people with these diagnoses can be scary or depressing to be around when they're at their worst, but they are people too and deserve compassion and the chance to make things better for themselves.

So are you saying people with BPD , bipolar etc should be pacified and coddled and not face any criticism or responsibility for their actions? If so, you are the reason why the medical field is screwed up. Her disorder is correlated with her violent tendencies, and her inability to be an honest, functioning human being— so why can’t that be presented in court?

As a hospice nurse, I just admitted a patient and her file made me want to cry. She has anxiety and her provider kept pushing off all of her symptoms as anxiety and actually used the words "I don't think she wants to get better" to the point where an otherwise treatable illness got to the point that hospice care was appropriate. I am just furious about this.

Good discussion, nice to see your sub numbers go up because of the trial (I'm one that came over).

Sad that these things can be weaponized and even used in court publicly and I don't agree that anyone's personal health info should be public. However, some would argue the reason your "morality of mental health diagnoses" scale is conceptualized the way that it is by the general public, i.e. with an acceptable/ unacceptable side is because some of the diagnoses on the right involve elements of volition (the personality disorders) while the diagnoses on the right do not or less so (I would move bipolar to the left), and the actions or symptoms of those diagnoses on the right are not just disorderly in a vacuum, but are often and necessarily willfully harmful to others, which is why individuals with antisocial personality disorder (a diagnosis that would definitely be on the right) are often bad people and are essentially outlined this way in the DSM5. Swing and a miss for me here.

(Felt like I should add a general TW here)
I was thinking about the legal systems role in mental health earlier. I was in a state hospital and on my unit, I was the only one if 22 who was voluntary. Everyone else had gone to probate court and been found to be so sick that they required indefinite confinement in a long-term psychiatric hospital. About one third of the clients in my unit were there because they commit a minor crime (usually still violent) and the court put them in the hospital. There is a different hospital for people who commit murder or other more "serious" crimes. The problem with this is none of the people there after breaking the law wanted to get better. In fact, one woman regularly assaulted staff and other clients. The thing I was thinking about today was how someone could be there for no reason at all. I almost fought my sentence to this hospital and my lawyer advised me to go voluntarily because it looks better. They bring in a court-appointed psychologist and psychiatrist to evaluate you and they then will lock you up with no end date. I wasnt even a danger to others, I had attempted 4 times in 4 months and that meant that I had no option. I also have bpd. And you are right because even in the state hospital, my psychiatrist treated me like I was going to hurt myself every chance I got. I wasnt allowed crayons. I had to eat on 1:1.
Also, just to illustrate how awful this hospital is, we had no rooms. There are two hallways, one for men and one for women, with cubicals. I would not wish this on anyone. And it felt extremely punitive. I know this is slightly off-topic but metal health is weaponized even within the system.

Amber Heard placed her mental heath at issue by alleging PTSD in court filings. Therefore she subjected herself to a mental health evaluation in order to prove whether or not she had it.👍