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Dr Shannon Curry under fire for Amber Heard 'diagnosis' during trial against Johnny Depp

The psychologist assessed Heard’s mental health after being contacted by Depp’s legal team in 2021

Just after Amber Heard’s exclusive interview with Savannah Guthrie was broadcasted on Today, people  started calling out Dr Shannon Curry for her assessment regarding Heard’s mental health. One user commented, “Dr Curry is kinda under fire by the community of Psychologists".

After being contacted by Johnny Depp's legal team in 2021, the forensic psychologist assessed Heard's mental health and said during the testimony that Heard exaggerated PTSD symptoms and engaged in "defensiveness" during testing and further added that Dr Dawn Hughes falsified tests and results.

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This didn't go down well with many people, especially those from the field. An individual with the account handle @ethicalfailure on TikTok, posted a video saying, "She diagnosed two personality disorders in 12 hours. She may have got a worldwide popularity boost by contributing to the misogynist abusive campaign against Amber Heard. However, she has lost a lot of faith and a lot of respect among other professionals from her field."

A user on Twitter wrote, "Lady, you don't even know what PTSD is, let alone CPTSD, just like that clout chaser, pseudo psychologist, Shannon Curry. You've no idea how a brain on trauma works & you still blame & shame yourself, that's why you're out here hating on Amber Heard. STFU. #IStandWithAmberHeard" Another user commented, "Dr Shannon Curry is likeable but SO anti her own job. A person with PTSD doesn’t go to events, wine sommelier events? That’s not quite right Tying someone to borderline doesn’t mean they abused Disorders aren’t fact finders. What. #IStandWithAmberHeard on this one. Stigma."

Diagnosis by Dr Shannon Curry

In 2019, Heard was tested by Dr Dawn Hughes, who diagnosed her with PTSD. In early May, Dr Hughes presented her knowledge to the court. Dr Shannon Curry, Depp's forensic psychologist, said on May 25 that Dr Dawn Hughes "misrepresented" the results of Dr Curry's evaluation regarding Heard. Dr Curry further stated that psychologists should limit their reports to the data discovered and avoid including personal or private information that would jeopardize the dignity of any of the persons concerned. She added that when discussing Depp, who she hadn't seen, Dr Hughes mentioned some of the accusations. Dr Curry believes Dr Hughes used "obsessive jealousy" several times when asserting that these things cannot be determined through testing and psychiatric examination.

As show on Court TV, Dr Curry also said on May 25 that Heard's PTSD symptoms were blown out of proportion and that she didn't believe Heard had PTSD. Dr Curry said, “She administered the personality assessment inventory… it includes several scales that are very good at detecting exaggeration, minimisation or even trying to claim you have unusually good qualities. In that test, there were clear indicators that Ms Heard was engaged in defensiveness.” According to Dr Curry, Ms Heard's approach to several examinations was unusual. "It appears to be influenced by what we call the face validity of the exam questions."