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Psychologist testifies that Amber Heard has personality disorders

Psychologist testifies that Amber Heard has personality disorders

A clinical psychologist told the court that the actor has borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.
27 Apr, 2022

A psychologist hired by lawyers for Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp testified on Tuesday at his defamation case against his former wife Amber Heard that she suffers from twin personality disorders.

Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist, said she had examined Heard's mental health records and personally evaluated her for 12 hours over two days in December 2021.

Curry said it was her opinion that the 36-year-old actress, who had a starring role in the movie Aquaman, has borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.

"She obtained scores that were consistent with those diagnoses," Curry said.

Lawyers for Heard sought to discredit Curry's testimony during cross-examination, noting she had been hired by Depp's attorneys to testify on his behalf.

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

"If you did not find something that would be in favor of Mr Depp and negative to Miss Heard than you wouldn't be an expert in this case?" Elaine Bredehoft, an attorney for Heard, asked Curry.

"I present science regardless of what that science may be," Curry responded.

Curry said some of the primary characteristics of borderline personality disorder include a "lot of inner anger and hostility," a tendency to be "self-righteous" and "fluctuating moods."

"They can react violently, they can react physically," she said. "Oftentimes they will be abusive to their partners."

"It's almost play-acting," she said.

Curry, who has experience with US combat veterans, said it was her opinion that Heard did not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the result of alleged domestic abuse.

Heard had "grossly exaggerated" her symptoms of PTSD in a test she was given, she said.

The 58-year-old Depp has denied ever being physically abusive towards Heard and has claimed repeatedly at the trial that she was the one who was frequently violent.

'Washed-up actor'

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard over a column she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse."

Heard never named Depp but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

The Texas-born Heard countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered "rampant physical violence and abuse" at his hands.

Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film The Rum Diary and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.

Heard's attorneys have alleged that Depp would become a physically and sexually abusive "monster" when he was drunk or on drugs, and pressed him extensively about his drug and alcohol use during his three days of cross-examination on the witness stand.

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

Also testifying Tuesday was Tara Roberts, who for the past 15 years has managed a private island in the Bahamas owned by Depp.

Roberts was asked by Depp's lawyers to recount details of an argument the couple had on the island one evening.

"Amber was telling him that he was a washed-up actor," Roberts said. "He was going to die a lonely old man."

She said Heard was yelling at Depp, grabbing at him and trying to pull him back into their house.

Roberts said she was "worried" about what might happen and took Depp to a cafe on the island and applied ice to an injury he had received to the bridge of his nose.

Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater".

Comments

funnyman Apr 27, 2022 12:03pm
There is no medically sound manner of conclusively diagnosing personality disorder which is why defence lawyers love it. All the studies that claim to prove existence of Personality disorders as claimed in this article are so ad hoc with little to no peer review and even less control samples that these "disorders" may well be called fictions of psychology. Personality disorders only exists as double negatives, you cannot prove they exist using any medical tests but you also cannot disprove they exists through any medical tests. Psychological tests "designed" to diagnose such cases are proven to be created with a bias (the creator of tests wants a positive result to validate their research)
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Apr 27, 2022 12:05pm
Name any Hollywood and Bollywood actor and actress who does not have any personality disfunction and disorder.
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Truth be told Apr 27, 2022 12:38pm
Everyone knows and can speculate what might've have happened. Currently it is a matter of who gets to get even with the other in the court and who is more believable beyond reasonable doubt to the jury. The facts of the matter might always remain different than what the results might portray. We know it was a normal to dysfunctional relationship, many fights are partly normal with a playground factor twisting it and blowing it out of proportion. Had they not fought with each other the same emotions would've been used to express care for each other but the inherent selfish nature of both and recognition of one's own contributions to get acknowledged as superior to the other partner have led them to this twisted situation forcing them to wash their dirty laundry in public while attacking each other's credibility. Every marital fight can end up like this provided you have the means and funds to afford something of this nature.
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Oracle Apr 27, 2022 01:59pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad - there are some people who agree 100% to things - personality disorder, yes 100%.
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Anonymouseee Apr 27, 2022 02:30pm
Amber heard has a lot more issues than what is diagnosed here.
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Raka Apr 27, 2022 03:08pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad, finally you are able to write a coherent sentence apart from your cliched ones. Kudos!
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FAZ Apr 27, 2022 03:10pm
Issues of the over fed people.
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Saira Khan Apr 27, 2022 03:39pm
As a woman I can say that western ideals of feminism will culminate in more of such mental disorders. We can only stop them if we don’t let any single gender, man or woman, have too much control
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Khayyam James Hussain Apr 27, 2022 03:54pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Naseer ud Din Shah.
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Ali Apr 27, 2022 04:59pm
My wife has same disorders and my life is hell.
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jq Apr 27, 2022 05:20pm
during the testimony, the so called psychologist, who isn't even board certified, admitted that she had a 4 hours long dinner interview with depp's team, when they hired her, and she agreed to the diagnoses of BPD in february 2021, even though she first time met amber heard in person in december, 2021. please do responsible reporting.
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You are art Apr 27, 2022 06:04pm
@Saira Khan women are control freaks once the drama of love is over!
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Iqbal Bhai Apr 28, 2022 10:57am
@Raka I believe it is somebody else with same name.
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AJ Apr 28, 2022 02:29pm
That's why one shouldn't marry based on fleeting reasons like infatuation (especially men) or money (especially women). A lot of marriages break down when the initial 'honeymoon' period ends.
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