The psychologist hired by Johnny Depp’s legal team told the court that Amber Heard has two personality disorders: borderline and histrionic.
The defamation trial between Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard began on April 11 in Fairfax, Virginia, following Mr. Depp’s lawsuit against his ex-wife in March 2019. Mr. Depp argues that she defamed him in a December 2018 opinion piece published in washington post titled “I spoke out against sexual violence — and faced the wrath of our culture. That has to change.”
Psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry, who was hired by Depp’s legal team, took the stand on Tuesday, saying she met with Ms. Heard on “two separate dates” while she was conducting her assessment: December 10 and December 17. 2021. He said 12 hours passed. together and that “the result of Ms. Heard’s evaluation supported two diagnoses: borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.”
Dr. Curry said that Ms. Heard “externalizes blame” and can be “self-righteous,” “judgmental” and angry.
He added that there is a “desperate fear of abandonment” among people with borderline disorder and that the reaction to that is to try to keep an important person close and this behavior can become extreme.
“Everything is like the pistons in an engine, as if they fire and ignite each other,” said Dr. Curry. “But when someone is afraid of being abandoned, by his partner or by any other person close to him and has this disorder, he makes desperate attacks to prevent that from happening.”
“And those desperate attempts can be physical assault, they can be threatening, they can harm themselves, but these are behaviors that are very extreme and very concerning to people around them,” he added.
“Over time, the anger, the explosive anger, that they show when someone needs space, or when someone really isn’t doing anything wrong, because a lot of times they read things that they perceive as a slight towards them or that they’re someone with the intention of hurting them. damage that is not actually happening. They will hype it up and blow it up,” Dr. Curry said. “They will react in this heightened way that is exhausting for their partners.”
Dr. Curry said that people with borderline disorder can appear charming and socially sophisticated, but they can also snap and be unaware of problems in their thinking.
They are very preoccupied with appearances, can be cruel, and can have a hard time admitting faults, which leads to a lot of problems in close relationships.
Reactions may be violent or aggressive and may be abusive to your partner to physically prevent them from leaving.
They may also use the legal system to prevent their partner from leaving by threatening to file a restraining order or claiming that they have been abused.
“One of the most common tactics they will use is to physically assault and then hurt themselves, but mostly we call this ‘management violence.’ Essentially, this means they will make threats using the legal system,” said Dr. Curry. “Then they might say they’re going to file a restraining order or report abuse, or they might do these things to try to prevent their partner from leaving right now.”
Dr. Curry said that people with borderline disorder can easily feel slighted and don’t try to control their emotions. They will do anything to express their anger.
She said borderline and histrionic personality disorder can appear as “two sides of the same coin.”
Describing histrionic personality disorder, Dr. Curry said that you need to be the center of attention, adding that people with the condition will have to make up stories to put themselves in the spotlight as “victim” or “princess.”
“With histrionic personality disorder, that underlying drive is to always be the center of attention, because if you don’t have that attention on you, it feels similar to borderline personality disorder: you feel pretty empty, like you don’t have that attention. . sense of self or worth,” Dr. Curry told the court.
He added that attractive people can use their good looks to gain attention and respect.
Dr Curry said there was evidence that Ms Heard was “grossly” exaggerating PTSD symptoms and no evidence to support that she actually had the condition.
“It’s one of the most easily faked disorders,” said Dr. Curry. “Most of us know what it feels like to feel anxious, and a lot of people have seen war movies and movies that show someone with PTSD.”
“Ms. Heard did not have PTSD,” he added. “And there were also quite significant indications that she was grossly exaggerating PTSD symptoms when she was asked about them.”
She said that Ms. Heard claimed to be suffering from 19 of the top 20 symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“That’s not typical of even someone with the most disabling form of PTSD,” Dr. Curry said.
During cross-examination by Ms. Heard’s legal team, Dr. Curry said that she was not board certified and had never previously testified about dating violence.
Dr. Curry said that her legal team interviewed her at Depp’s home, that Depp was present at the time, and that dinner and drinks were served.
She heard that attorney Elaine Bredehoft questioned Dr. Curry about her views and how they did not match those of a therapist who treated Ms. Heard. Ms. Bredehoft also asked about the conclusion reached by another doctor that Ms. Heard was a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp.
Dr. Curry said there are notes from other doctors indicating that Ms. Heard reported violence by Mr. Depp.
In her 2018 opinion piece, Ms. Heard wrote that “like many women, she had been sexually harassed and assaulted when she was of college age. But I kept quiet, I did not expect to file complaints to do justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim.”
“Then two years ago I became a public figure representing domestic abuse and felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women speaking out,” she added at the time.
While Mr. Depp is not mentioned in the article, his legal team argues that it contains a “clear implication that Mr. Depp is a domestic abuser”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”. Mr. Depp is seeking compensation of “not less than $50 million”.
Ms. Heard has filed a $100 million counterclaim against Mr. Depp for nuisance and immunity from his accusations.
Reference-www.independent.co.uk