I mentioned in an earlier post that a former client of mine, ‘Angela’, lost contact with her children because a psychiatrist diagnosed her as having an ’emotionally unstable personality disorder’.
The case has now been partially heard in Court and an Expert Witness agreed with me that the diagnosis was unfounded, as there had been no adherence to the agreed diagnostic criteria for the disorder. In the interim, despite my protestations, Social Services were insistent she attend Group Mentalisation Therapy, a treatment targetted at people with a personality disorder. Social Services refused to respond to my two reports. To date ‘Angela’ has increased access and the legal case against the local authority is ongoing, I and ‘Angela’ are therefore limited in what we can say at this stage. But cavalier diagnosis and misdirected therapy are a national scandal. ‘Angela’ is happy to write on this Forum at the conclusion of the case. The horrors she has endured are unspeakable and a consequence of a systemic abuse of power in Health and Social Services.
Dr Mike Scott