| Victims of domestic abuse reach out to the system | | | | justice to prevail. Then, the day comes when they |
| for help in stopping the abuse perpetrated upon | | | | awaken to the fact that they have been |
| them. This can involve both healthcare and law | | | | re-victimized by their abuser's manipulation of the |
| enforcement. Yet, what actually happens, more often | | | | psychologists and psychiatrists. |
| than most people know, is that these so-called | | | | Psychiatric Re-victimization To What End |
| "helpers" can be used to perpetuate domestic | | | | Now you'd think that if the batterer is getting a |
| violence "legally" during divorce. | | | | divorce and seeking to move on with their lives, then |
| In healthcare, it's the psychologists and psychiatrists. | | | | the victim's declared mental health status would be |
| These healthcare providers are frequently | | | | of no interest to him/her. Wrong...completely wrong! |
| manipulated by abusers to aid them in establishing | | | | By establishing for "the record" that the domestic |
| false claims about the domestic abuse survivors that | | | | violence survivor is "crazy," the abuser leverages their |
| they batter and control. | | | | ability to regain and maintain control over the |
| Psychiatric Diagnosis as Batterer's Club in Domestic | | | | family...and most importantly, control over |
| Violence Divorce | | | | themselves, or at least control over their public |
| Almost daily, I am sought out by a domestic violence | | | | image. Many people will tell you that the legal |
| survivor seeking help from being falsely accused of | | | | psychiatrics of a case are nothing more than to save |
| being mentally ill. In many of the cases, the mental | | | | face for the batterer. |
| healthcare diagnostics appear to be grossly improper. | | | | The abuser seeks to walk away looking good and |
| But that doesn't prevent a court from making | | | | certainly not being an abuser. To this end, they must |
| determinations about the accused. In many of these | | | | make the victim to be "bad"..."wrong"..."crazy." |
| cases, the battered mothers (and abused fathers) | | | | Essentially, the abuser enlists (directly or indirectly) |
| are faced with losing custody of and, in some cases, | | | | the healthcare provider to discredit the victim in order |
| even the essential moments of simple human contact | | | | to invalidate who she/he is and what she/he stands |
| with their children. | | | | for with respect to being a domestic abuse survivor. |
| Once judicial decisions are made, remedies can be | | | | If you are a domestic violence survivor and have |
| added on and on...with no regard for the accuracy of | | | | been threatened with losing custody of your children |
| the original foundation underlying the initial judicial | | | | and the credibility of you mental health status, seek |
| decision. We have seen domestic violence victims | | | | to understand how batterers manipulate healthcare |
| prevented from having unsupervised or any access | | | | providers to establish false claims. And as you learn |
| to their abused children because of a clinical | | | | about the reality of what's before you, find a credible |
| psychiatric diagnosis. | | | | professional to help you prevent this life-changing |
| The sad thing here is that those directly negatively | | | | destructive legal psychiatric ploy. The sooner you |
| impacted, like the protective parent and children, are | | | | become proactive in preventing the establishment of |
| unaware of this ploy during its set-up and ultimate | | | | false claims, the easier you can prevent them from |
| execution. Often they go along with certain | | | | defining your life and limiting your liberties. |
| procedures trusting in their sanity and hoping for | | | | |